Been busy and not really feeling like logging my training but of course still killing it.
Lately i get home after working all day drink my pre workout and have a real hard time getting going. I just want to nap but if i push through that after my warm ups I get fired up and still have good training sessions. Same way Monday when i front squatted 405x2 and was more of the same yesterday. No one is going to give you anything in this world but you can take from it whatever you want.
felt pretty easy other than my legs were already jello. i think it was about 100ft there and back, 2nd run i brought the bag straight back inside so i went at least 250ft with it.
felt light just had to stop to regrip, did 10 in 60 seconds than another 2 after
circus db
150x5 pr+1 rep
some left arm db work
Saturday events
Axle clean and press
up to 213x6 my clean transitions felt like shit oh wells. felt plenty strong
buddy was doing log press so silly me decided to do some
12" log press
225x1
255x1
275x1 PR+4lbs
300x you ain't getting this on a whim buddy!
felt real strong, the 300 clean felt pretty easy, it didn't feel crushing on my chest. i got decent pop. if i train my triceps heavy again and actually do log presses
farmers walk 50'
up to 260 a hand in 13 seconds. i am sure that is a pr for me. let alone on freaking gravel
stone shouldering
with 230 and 250 stone, wanted to get a feel for it. it never felt heavy but i was making a few mistakes that will be corrected in san jose!
My good friend and top HW strongman Robert OB Oberst's wedding was this weekend and since we are all training for Dallas Plat+ we got together the morning of the wedding to really kill events. It was a great group with me, Evan Hansmann, Robert Oberst, Deadlift Doug Carroll, Alex Whitaker, Eric Peterson, Chris Carroll, etc
Started with Axle clean and press, i wanted to go up to what the weights for San Jose are going to be and get a pr
175x3
225x3
255x3 PR
275x1 1 rep pr
felt good! cleans felt solid, happy with how good the axle has been feeling.
OB went up to 375 for a double which was silly easy. he just ran out of room on the platform due to happy feet. Eric hit a solid 375 as well
next up was yoke, they have one of the best yokes I have ever used so despite having horrendous tendinitis in my lower inside shin i was going to take advantage
hit 610 for 50ft in 13 seconds for a pr
700 in 28 seconds with 2 drops.... the pain made this hard i needed the yoke a little lower but its as low as this one goes haha it was a pr but i can really improve on this. Evan, OB and chris all went up to a grand which is just kind of crazy
and than we pulled a silly heavy v8 mustang convertible. Me, OB, Evan and chris got a rep with the handles out 4' we moved them into 3' and I got 6 and OB got 3. I'm still the car deadlift king!! :) i gave myself a black eye lifting that damn thing though, oh the feeling of your head is just going to pop off your neck.
I think the west coast is going to bring some heat to Dallas!!
Drove up to core strength RX to get some events in. No time to rest because Dallas will probably be the most stacked class of 175's in 1 comp of all time!
I think i lost my moving event shoes somewhere between here and Seattle.
240x60ft 16 seconds wore some shit nikes way to squishy
240x60ft 15 seconds tried my OLY shoes. it felt weird but half way through got a fast stride
big progress but only the beginning
Axle Clean & Press
215x6 + 1 miss
215x8
felt solid! technique is good out of somewhere. Conditioning will improve and so will this event
little duck walk practice
17" deadlift with Texas squat bar
yes I did this Thursday but it felt like a fun idea. Using the squat bar since its stiffer and 1.25" the San Jose fit expo is using the old IFSA axle and wheels which is 1.5"
triples until
580x8
630x6
all the knurling really tore up my thighs but my back feels stroong
yoke walk 60'
620 14 seconds
best yoke run of my life
Suicide Medley all 60'
200 keg, 225 keg, 280 duck walk 500 sled drag
used kegs since I haven't filled up my ironmind bag yet. flew with those. Need more work on duck walk and sled drag and better shoes for both
Forgot I am going to the San Jose Improv to see Joey Diaz on Thursday so sure just take 1 day off after a contest than train 3 days in a row, sounds great.....
2" Ironmind Axle power cleans
123x3
173x3
193x3
Axle deadlift
213x5
293x5
343x5
393x5
didn't want to go balls out this week, trying to be somewhat smart for once
Why not do heavy ass 17" deads with an axle? that sounds easy on my sore back
350x3
440x3
530x3
620x1
710x1
550x10 just getting the grove back for this movement
This is one of my favorite comps and I was planning on doing it to test my cut back to 175 against some of the best competition out there but the original date of June 16th happened to be the date of OB's wedding. When it got changed to the 2nd 5 weeks out I started training for it and really dialed in my diet.
started water loading Monday and cut out all carbs and tried to limit sodium as much as I could. Got a 6:30AM flight and had a protein shake with a ton of peanut butter and 60 grams of whey on the way to the airport and that was my last meal other than a few cups of straight black coffee. Checked my weight on the oldest scale I've ever seen in my life at the hotel and it said I was 190!! Instead of freaking out (can't say I didn't a little) I took a 15$ cab ride (each way) to another hotel to check my weight on a real scale. I was 180.4.... You know you haven't ate a thing when cherry flavored magnesium citrate tastes amazing.
Weigh ins were at 3PM about 40 minutes from the contest venue and I didn't get to check my weight again till about 12:30. Since my sister who was driving from 3 hours away got a flat on the way and was bringing me a scale. Judging from how the night/morning went I figured I was easily on weight but it said I was 177.8. I did a little homemade hotel bathroom sauna and lost about a lb. took a break went on the elliptical for 15 minutes and hit the bathroom sauna for another 20 minutes and left for weigh ins at 175.8. Drove to weigh ins wearing two jackets with the heater slightly on sweated the whole way there and weighed in at 175.2.
Putting the weight back on
Downed some pediylate and water till i stopped shaking. My core temperature was really high and i was still sweating. I walked around the parking lot in the cold for awhile till my heart rate went down and ate at Trappers Sushi, I dumped a ton of soy sauce into my miso soup and my rice and ate a few rolls. looking back I should have stayed safe and got something more simple like beef teriyaki and rice. I just love sushi though!
ate some sugary candy and cookies while sipping water and than mixed 1 scoop of GH nutrition second wind and 2 scoops of ESP Nutrition Power Thru in 26oz of water. I would drink that, than 26oz of straight water than the blend, a few times. I started to feel human again after this! 2 hours after weigh ins I weighed 184.4
ate dinner and got an extra thing of chicken and rice to eat in the morning. woke up every 90 minutes or so to get more fluid in me and left to the comp at 8AM weighing 188.6
Pre Comp
It was a wet cold morning which gave me flashbacks to California's Strongest Man, I know I could handle that but I kind of like some sunshine! Played around with the equipment. damn that yoke is WIDE and the dumbbell was massive!! Got my shirt, shot the shit with everyone, handed out samples of ESP Nutrition Power Thru and MaxForce N.O
Yoke walk 670lbs 80' up an incline
My 2nd worst event but I was feeling pretty good! I took off and felt good until midway when my yoke banged into the ground with every step. Rookie mistake! I needed the yoke a notch lower. This is so stupid I have a strong squat so the pick is never a problem.... Probably cost me first place.
Result 47.7 (PR still) Seconds. Patrick won with 35. 2nd place
425 Deadlift for reps no straps
up and down commands! I was very furious at myself for the big blunder in the yoke but i have learned to take strongman event by event. Time to deadlift!!
I started to feel a little light headed around rep 7, was shaking a lot. I didn't re hydrate good enough between events. ended up with 10, couldn't finish the hitch on the 11th. Tie for 2nd with Benji. Patrick got 12 for the win.
135 Circus Dumbbell
I knew this was my time to make up points. I've been hammering this event in training and hitting 8 reps with my homemade bell at will. From experience that can mean jack shit when it comes to comp though since implements differ so much. This thing was huge and brand new with SLICK paint. The handle felt bigger than 3" and was slipping out of my hand a bit on the clean. I hit it with 115 than did 2 singles with 135 in warm ups so I knew I would be OK.
Hit the first one easy, rushed and missed the 2nd at lockout. Benji had fought for 1 rep at the end and I hadn't seen Patrick hit one next to me yet so I slowed things down. Hit another rep and stood there, felt like doing another asked the crowd and of course missed it. WHOOPS!
1st place. made up 4pts. HUGE
240 farmers walk 160' turn at 80'
Now for my worst event! silly grip, of course these are hard implements as well. I did the math and figured I would either be .5 behind or ahead if i got 3rd going into the last event. Patrick blistered the course in 32 seconds and vice grip Benji bested it with 30 seconds. I went for broke and sprinted with the farmers but my grip wouldn't contain. Once I knew I had 3rd secured I saved myself since it was all going to come down to the kegs!!
Keg Carry & Load
4 kegs weighing 180,200,220,250 carried from distances of 10,15,20,25ft respectively and loaded onto a 50" platform The standings going into the kegs was Me & Benji with 11.5pts and Patrick had 11. Lets go!!
Patrick loaded all 4 in a good time and I was going head to head with Benji so I knew I was going to have to move! My training has been phenomenal for this event so I was very confident.
Me and Benji were neck and neck through the first 2 but I pulled away on the 3rd and even more on the 4th. I took a second to stand it upright and finished in 38.44 which was actually the third fasted time between all the lightweight classes (175,200 and 231) I was fired up! This was the hardest I've ever fought for a contest and when you come out on top it is a great feeling.
Conclusion
This contest gave me everything I wanted out of it. I've never been pushed harder or in a more competitive comp. I learned a ton about the weight cut and feel this was the perfect tune up for the Dallas Plat+. Can't wait for August!
After competing in the 200lb class at nationals in 2011 my motivation was low. I ate like crap for the rest of the year and got up to around 210lbs. When it was announced that there would be a 175lb strongman world championship at the Arnold in 2013 I paced my house for the rest of the day. I was so fired up! I knew what I have to do and started getting to work.
I decided I can't waste one day with a bad training session. My diet needs to be on point. Here is what I did
My meal plan is so simple I decided to keep my strength I didn't want to do anything drastic. I started cheating less. I guess you could say my diet is 90% paleo a sample day almost always looks like this. Most of my food is organic with grass fed beef/bison and fish (talipia, salmon) as the main meat sources I just can't stand eating chicken a lot
wake up 5:30AM
Meal 1 6:15am Shake consisting of
1 cup frozen blueberries
1 cup spinach or kale
1 cup greek yogurt
28grams whey protein
1tsp cinammon
little over a cup of almond milk
meal 2 9:30AM
1 oz raw almonds
28gram whey protein
an apple
Meal 3 12:30PM (training day)
6oz grassfed steak
4oz sweet potato
1 cup of green vegetable
Meal 3 (rest day)
6oz talipia
huge mixed salad
2 tbs EVOO
meal 4 3:00-3:30PM
1 cup greek yogurt
20grams whey protein
dash of cinammon
1tbs strawberry jam (training days) 1tbs peanut butter (rest days)
1 scoop ESP Nutrition Max Force N.O 4:30-5:00PM
5:00-530PM train 2 scoops ESP Nutrition Power Thru sipped throughout
meal 5 7:00-7:30PM 6oz meat
tons of veggies sometimes sweet potato, rice, etc
if i was hungry i'd eat something again around 9:30 protein shake with peanut butter, some eggs. something with protein and fat.
my training stayed basically the same as before. I did add in more conditioning work and my job has changed where I walk a lot more than before. Lots of super sets, shorter rest peroids. All my accessory work I would try to keep my heart rate fairly high. About twice a week I finish off with kettlebell swings, medicine ball slams, high rep clean & press, sprint intervals on an airdyne, etc
I cold brew 1/2 gallon of green tea with 6 bags (a pack of 100 is 12 bucks at costco) and add 1/4 of it to 3/4 of water and drink that every day. been doing this for about a month and it seems to help more caffeine more gooder I say.
I add cinnamon to everything! It helps with insulin sensitivity is cheap and makes things taste better. I add it to all my vanilla protein shakes
If my weight loss would stall or I started to feel sluggish in the gym I would cheat, get a pizza. go out too eat, etc. Sometimes for an entire week. When I went back to my normal diet I would start to lose weight/get leaner within a few days. I guess these are called refeeds or carb ups and kick the metabolism back up again.
Saturdays my event day I would eat a ton more carbs. Sometimes even eat french toast before training. I know I burn a shit ton of calories doing strongman events for 4 hours and since I train for so long I don't get my normal 5-6 meals in, usually 3 maybe 4 so I wouldn't worry about it. I stop that and all cheating as it gets closer to a competition and having to make weight.
I would also like to note that my weight has been hovering around 185 for about 2 months. I lost the actual scale weight quickly. My weight would get up to as high as 193 on cheat weeks and as low as 181 when back to dieting I have added muscle and lost fight in a few cycles this way to get to my current state.
Was pretty excited to deadlift till i remembered I was out of chalk. I should have used straps but didn't want to throw my form off since i am just getting used to pulling mixed grip again anyway.
deadlift
135x5
225x3
225x3
315x3
365x3
405x5
455x5
hands feel like hamburger this morning my grip stinks. Not bad pulling 480x5 with straps is my best 515 in a suit touch n' go I am going to match 480x5 without straps next week
Axle stiff leg deadlifts DOH
233 3x3
Incline DB bench
85s 3x10
incline db rows
85s 3x10
"grace" with an ironmind axle
135lb clean and press 30 reps
did it in 1:51 it was pretty damn easy I guess my conditioning is better. Hardest part was counting to 30
going belt less on my front squats for awhile. They always do me good. Only thing adding the belt helps is my ego.
Front squat (no belt)
135x5
225x3
225x3
255x3
285x6
some pistols haha did 10 with right leg. my left leg wouldn't work today even though my left leg is way stronger and last time I did these I had the opposite problem
back squat
275x10
275x10
Hanging leg raises
3x10
filled up my Ironmind sandbag with 200lbs of sand for some fun this weekend
Surprisngly not very sore today after squats yesterday. That is unless I have to bend down or walk up stairs... Also blew out another pair of jeans today.
Axle Press
123x5
173x3
193x3
213x3
240x5 PR
not very explosive, basically push pressed
Close grip sling shot bench
135x5
225x3
275 3x3
3x8 circuit of
db lateral raises
incline db flies
incline db reverse flies
hammer curls
My upper body is weak right now, overhead is still ok since I get good leg drive but lockouts feel soft. With my wrist injury it was preventing me from doing much upperbody work the last month or so and it shows. Time to build back up!
Front Squat no belt
135x5
185x3
225x3
275x3
315x3 PR
335x1 PR
Practice kb snatches
yeah i don't know how to do these......
Back squat
225 3 sets of 20
This was tough, I feel better this morning than I thought I would this morning. Sure tomorrow will be worse. Walking back to the squat rack was the worst part
Sleep would have probably been more beneficial than squats but these knees ain't gonna disappear by themselves
Front squat
135x5
225x3
285x3
315x3
335x1 felt hard..... I can hit this for an easy 5
decided to punish myself for feeling weak.
body weight on bar back squats (185)
hanging leg raise
2x12
3x20 it wasn't hard but i literally feel down walking up my stairs to go to the shower. I want to do a set of 100 one day when I really hate myself. Work is going to be wonderful today with 2.5 hours of sleep and SORE legs but it's all worth it. Celebrating done! 26 was by far my favorite year yet but 27 has been just amazing so far. I got big goals this year and I will make them all happen
Saturday...... Wake up my whole body hurts my head feels cloudy and a bit disconnected from my body. Between winning my highland games which made my upper back hurt down to the bone the deadlifts on Thursday made the rest of my body feel the same way. Yup I must be 5 weeks out from a contest feels about right.
Big breakfast 4 cups of coffee 2 scoops of Max Force and lets go
It got up to almost 100* at my house it was rough but hey i got to work on my much needed tan!
Axle press
tried cleaning it but it just jacked my wrist up so i went out of the rack again and mummified my wrists like I have been doing.
123x5
173x3
203x3 felt heavy..... great
223x9 got a decent rhythm still felt a little off missed the 10th which would have been a 10lb pr over last week which felt EASY i feel beat up and as my upper back tired my rack got lower so thats why i missed the 10th. Happy it went as well as it did
Yoke 60ft
330x1
470x2 this felt shitty
660x about 10ft knew i didn't have it in me today. I did 600 no belt 2 weeks ago so yoke is better just need to train it smarter
Keg carry
WA strongest Apple has a keg carry and load 4 kegs 180,200,220,250 staggered from 10-25ft away and loaded onto a 50" platform. All i have right now is a 250 keg so I
went carry it
25ft mock load
20ft mock load
16ft mock load
12ft mock load
felt pretty easy
waited awhile
carried it 100+ft back to the garage. damn near sprinted with it. I remember last time I was in the 175s a 250 keg i had to waddle with now it feels like play weight
Went out for my birthday and had a lot of fun! Met a lot of new people. When your short it happens every time when people have heard about me or seen pictures they always think I am going to be bigger than I am lol. Nope I am 5'6 on tall days and just over 180lbs. I'm built like an action figure just actual size .
I think I've done more celebrating for this birthday than any other going out to dinner at my favorite restaurant tonight then I am back on the grind. this cycle of training will be amazing I've gotten lean for me now it is time to get shredded brah and stronger than ever.......
This was Thursday. Good ole week 4 of coan/philipi deadlift routine when you want too increase your deadlift by another 40lbs. Is fucking tough, it sucks it makes you feel like dog shit for a week and that is if you actually get the reps in......
BW 182
Deadlift
135x5
135x3
225x3
315x3
365x2
425x2
485x2
545x2
455 3x3
stiff legs
365 3x3
25lb medcine ball slams
50 in 83 seconds (pr lol)
I missed 545 the first time and got my head right i decided to pull till i die and it went up...... very exhausting and taxing workout. So exhausting it took me 3 days to write it down
A few years ago I decided to just have fun with strength sports. I just did whatever comps I felt like. Powerlifting, Highland, Highlander, Strongman, etc. This was a blast and I loved the highland games, more laid back attitude and most of all the people. I met some great friends at the games!
What it all made me realize though is how strongman is and will always be what does it for me even though it is by far the most demanding and hardest on the body. You just can't get the same feeling of euphoria from complete exhaustion, pain and accomplishment that deadlifting a car or pulling a semi truck gives you by throwing a rock. Last year I decided to get focused and concrete on trying to be great at one thing and not mediocre at a few.
Luckily I have a long time between comps right now and I really missed hanging with some of my best friends so I was able to go up to Ardenwood and throw on Saturday.
I was real rusty and 1 or 2 days of practicing throwing would have done me good (mainly on hammer) but I wanted to take away as little as possible from my strongman training. I was already missing an event day.
The ride up was nothing but laughs stopping along the way to pick up Tony and Lucian. Seeing what Portlandia food Lucian brought with him and Tony scolding his mouth not realizing how hot Lucian keeps his hippie tea and being pissed about it the rest of the day.
Quick recap Results from Ardenwood Highland games. Braemer 26.9 PR +1'2" Open stone 30'9" PR +9" Light Weight for distace 41'7" PR + 8'7" Light Hammer 66'1" PR+ 4' hit 12' on weight for height. Had more height but wasn't making it go over the bar
All in all a good day, stones felt good and the LWFD pr was super surprising. Pretty much everything after lunch felt awful. I did those dumb Ardenwood stones farmers walk again and all it did was make me angry. They suck for everyone but suck even more if your short and wide like me. I hate hammer, I really really hate hammer. my Heavy hammer sucked so bad but somehow I managed a pr in the light hammer.
WOB was fun and I just wanted to leave by the time the caber came around. Can't lie it made me want to practice a bit and do another one
Was in a great mood all day. Had a bunch of caffeiene only had to work a half day at work then as I am getting ready to dead 405 i get a knock on my door about my dogs and it made my good mood go away quickly......
135x5
225x5
315x3
405x2
455x2
515x2 BLAH
felt like crap but I did it.......
425 3x3
also felt like crap
Had zero motivation today I actually drank my pre workout and took a nap, woke up drank some more and finally got going around 1:30. Got a shirt from my sponsor too!
Axle press out the rack going off a 253 training max
123x5
123x5
173x5
193x5
213x10 easy, Haven't done axle in while so its a PR
wrist a little poo poo still but whatevs lets move some weights
Log Press
95x
145x5
185x3
235x3
255x4 felt a little off ties pr but its routine now
225x8 got tired all were easy should have had 10
Olympic squats no belt no thing close stance hi bar ass to the floor
135x5
225x5
275x5
315x5
easy i really liked these going to stick to them for awhile. My quads are real sore after training, like I need them to get any bigger 34 waist jeans are about 3" to big right now and tighter then ever in my legs what to do?
Stones over 52.5 yoke (shitty)
250 3x3 some misses I wasn't exploding as good as normal keep working!
bodyweight is 188 getting leaner eating poptarts yea boy
Redoing the coan routine. Now that I have ran it 4-5 times sometimes with great success others not so much I do my own version. With dieting I lower the volume on assistance work.
Deadlift
135x5
135x5
225x5
315x3
365x2
405x2
455x2 soooo easy felt good for about 8
Speed deadlifts
365 3x3
Stiff leg deadlifts
275 3x5
Pendlay rows
225 3x5
Good mornings
25lb medicine ball slams 50 reps in 90 seconds it honestly wasn't even that bad. I don't know what got into me i remember hating doing sets of 20s on these.
Did Californias Strongest Man last week but pretty sure everyone knows that already.
Log press
95x5
145x5
185x3
225x3
255x1 with an awful clean
285x a bunch of bullshit the first time in my life I was having trouble cleaning the log i think my upper back is a bit worn out and i couldn't pull it in tight to me. Got a decent clean did a odd split jerk thing had it locked out tried to get my feet back together and lost balance and had to bail. Oh well strength is there.
clean each rep
205x8 in 60 seconds 1 motioned. I think the last two I pressed normal. These will do me good in the long run
I am done working on max log for a bit. Going to give my axle some attention in case that is what comes up in August I know if it is log I am good and can easily prep for that in 12 weeksAlso BIG attention on circus db. Stupid thing
Axle power cleans
123x3
143x3
tried to snatch 173 lol grip held but i don't know how to snatch so it turned into a wide grip power clean that landed above my head and got pressed out. Funny i think my best snatch is 175.
193x3 annnnnnnd my wrist got jacked
I had already tweaked it doing arm over am at CSM but didn't really think about it, should have been wearing wrist wraps! hurt to flip burgers I made that night lol
Yoke 60ft
330x1
470x1
belt
540x2 decent speed good starting point this will be hammered
Got a late start didn't start lifting till 6:30 I like to start at least an hour earlier had ate some cheesecake. Took my maxforce and was ready to go!
Log press
95x5
145x5
185x3
205x3
235x1
265x3 PR +10lbs
235x7 PR +15lbs
1 motion clean each
185x10 this was the worst haha. Going to start doing these after my heavy sets to prepare for whatever strongman fitness qualifier I do
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