Congrats dude, that’s a lot of good stuff happening all at once.
2 Likes
Wednesday 6/20
Front Squat
5x135
5x165
5x195
2x225
2x255
2x285
2x315
There’s your 315, @isdatnutty, lol. The first rep was very easy; second one a bit of a grinder.
Tonight’s beer is a Troegs LaGrave Golden Ale (8% ABV). It’s a classic golden ale. No other way to describe it, lol.
6 Likes
YESSSSS! Love that lol. That’s all good man, your body is probably not use to FS heavy weights just yet. Since you’ve already hit your deadlift goals basically, your next goal should be to get to a 500lb front squat 
I’d like to work my way up to a 405 front squat while maintaining 600 deadlift at my current body weight of 225ish. That’s the dream.
Also: I get paid a quarterly fee for editing the medical journal, which is a nice little bonus of supplemental income. I am supposed to get my first payment tomorrow. When I see that appear in my bank account, I will probably go ahead and buy myself a pair of farmers’ walk handles from Rogue. I like having the sandbag to work with, and I think having another strongman tool is a good way to work in some more conditioning / strength combo platter.
8 Likes
Thursday 6/21
Deadlift
5x135
1x225
1x315
1x405
1x465
1x555
Tonight’s beer is a Firehouse Red Ale from North Country Brewing in Slippery Rock, PA. Pleasant and inoffensive, not as strong of a flavor as I typically like in a beer, but refreshing enough on a humid summer night.
1 Like
Friday 6/22
Deadlift
5x135
5x225
1x315
1x405
1x435
1x465
1x555
Yes. I basically just repeated yesterday’s workout. Sue me. I needed to deadlift, lol.
1 Like
Saturday 6/23
Sandbag Lift
1x200
1x200
1x200
1x200
1x200
1x200
1x200
1x200
1x200
1x200
1x200
1x200
1x200
1x200
1x200
1 Like
Sunday 6/24
Back Squat
5x135
5x165
5x195
2x225
2x255
2x285
2x315
Sandbag Lift
1x200
1x200
1x200
1x200
1x200
1x200
1x200
1x200
1x200
1x200
1x200
1 Like
Man that is exciting, babies are lots of fun haha
That would definitely be a good investment in the home gym.
Out of curiosity, why would you buy the Rogue farmer’s walk handles? It is at least 2x the cost of many off brand handles around me and that’s definitely one implement I don’t see having a lot of benefit from increased quality.
Update: I have bought them. They’re being shipped and should arrive this week. I also threw in an axle because a) it’s not all that expensive & I had to buy axle collars anyway for the farmer’s handles and b) I would like to start adding axle deadlifts for a fresh challenge. Any old chump can deadlift 600 on a bar, but how many can do it on an axle with zero whip and the weight an extra inch or two out in front of you?
Why Rogue (with the extra cost)? Supporting a brand that I like. I get what you’re saying - they’re just handles, what’s the big deal - but I do like to support businesses that I have had good experience with; all Rogue stuff that I’ve bought has been quite satisfactory (so has all IronMind gear, for that matter) and their customer service has been quite good (again, YMMV, but every time I’ve ordered from Rogue the whole order was at my house in like 2-3 days, and I’ve never had one of those wonky “they gave me the wrong thing” experiences). Plus, maybe a little too much personal info, but I was buying with what basically amounts to “bonus” money, and I still have a nice chunk of that bonus left over to stash some away even after the purchase (might be my last “me” purchase for awhile, too, with a kid coming any day now).
5 Likes
Thank you for the reply and I completely understand this logic.
I have had good experiences with several fitness retailers while building my home gym whom(?) I’d be happy dealing with again.
This is the thing I love most about strongman training. Axle bars, sandbags, kegs, stones, farmers walks, etc; once you become proficient with these implements, just lifting a barbell seems pretty easy/effortless in comparison.
Looking forward to seeing how you add these into training and the results of the new stimulus.
I see you’re sandbag lifting volume has increased, any noticeable changes from this work? (upper back strength, squats feeling stronger, etc.)
Thanks!
I’m loving the sandbag. I’m much more proficient with the movement than I was a few months ago, but it seems to be having some carryover to my deadlift - as now I’ll get all the way up to 555-565 before deadlifts really feel require me to get locked-in and focused. Even 525 now feels like 405 did a couple years ago.
If I could go back in time a ways, I’d have done this while training for high school football. A heavy-ass sandbag lift is a great training tool for lineplay. Would be great for wrestlers, too.
That’s exactly why I wanted some more strongman stuff. I was a bit of a one-trick pony for the last couple years (intentionally, as I wanted to keep it simple). Now I want to keep that big deadlift & add more “functional” strength - seems a little silly if I can deadlift 600 pounds, but struggle with things that your average farm-boy can do with a glass of sweet tea in the other hand.
I also think farmer’s are a good way to mix in a little more CrossFit/Strongman hybrid met-con like stuff. For example, I may turn Sundays into a day where I set up a circuit that features a kettlebell, the sandbag, and a farmer’s walk & go for as many rounds as I can complete in 15 minutes.
4 Likes
I don’t know why but this made me laugh way harder than it was probably intended.
1 Like
Monday 6/25
Front Squat
2x135
2x165
2x195
2x225
2x255
2x285
Kettlebell Swing
10x88
10x88
10x88
10x88
10x88
1 Like
Tuesday 6/26
Farmer’s Walks
50’ x 115-lbs per hand
Ten runs.
Axle Deadlift
5x115
1x205
1x295
1x385
1x400 (PR)
Got the new toys today & had to play with them a little bit. Set a “PR” of 400 on the axle deadlift that I will work on over the next few months gradually. More details later but I am very happy with the new purchases!
8 Likes
What else did ya get?
Let me know how your axle wears. I have one I got off amazon. It works great, but the paint has chipped where the plates load after a year of use.
Just an axle and farmer’s handles. But now that I’ve got those plus a sandbag to augment my barbells, I can make a pretty well-rounded minimalist strongman / barbell program.
2 Likes
Wednesday 6/27
Axle Deadlift
5x115
1x205
1x295
1x385
1x415
1x415
1x415
1x415
1x415
1x415 (PR)
Natural inclination to play with the newest toys this week. I can tell I’m really going to love the axle.
4 Likes