Maple Syrup Strength (littlesleeper)

@BOTSLAYER - Thanks man! I was pretty happy with how the new year started for me. Glad to have you along. I had anticipated using my axle to be a little easier on the crooks of my elbows, but will probably use a ‘pussy pad’ for a bit until I get comfortable enough with it. Glad to have you along!

@caesium32 - Thanks for the suggestion. I failed to mention that I would be using the axle for zercher squats. I appreciate you following along, hoping for some big numbers to come in 2017. I made a little plan for my hopeful PR’s throughout the year after watching @Alpha’s new(ish) youtube video about how to set up your goals for 2017. I’ll post my hopeful plans tonight and we will see if I can match the progress throughout the year!

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Why the delete? I actually do have a slosh pipe! I used it a bit last summer and will likely use it again this year once it thaws out! Very tiring with the hard bracing necessary to stabilize it. I would walk it up a little hill in my yard and turn and walk back down.

Sometimes my thumbs get carried away. They should probably shut up. :wink:
Dan John had an article about doing Zerchers with a slosh pipe. I dunno, it just sounded like it would probably kick ass.

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From how I’ve used zerchers in the past (albeit with less weight than you plan to use) I only really like them from the deadstop position doing only up to triples, but mostly singles. I don’t see you getting too much benefit out of the plus set except for maybe a pain tolerance challenge. I’d seen Kevin Oak do front SSB squats and they look interesting to say the least. Not sure if you need a different harness or not for those though.

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@ChickenLittle - Haha I hear ya, I too get a little carried away on here sometimes! But thanks for the suggestion, I’ll have to look that up!

@oldbeancam - I appreciate hearing comments from someone with experience with the exercise. When I was first looking it up, I did see a few of the examples from dead-stop so I will likely be going that avenue with the exercise. I will likely try them for week 1 and see if I can make them work. I think you might be right about the plus sets for this exercise…they could be interesting. I’ll have to report back after next week and see how it goes!


I did 10mins on the AirDyne last night just for something before the wife and I went out for a date night.

I was good and ordered a delicious Apple Pecan Salad with Balsamic, but the 2 large Coors Light and the movie popcorn were probably less than ideal.

Woke up this morning feeling pretty fat. Today will be relatively low carb and I’ll be adding in some cardio after my weights tonight as punishment for my sloppiness.

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I can see where you are coming from and I imagine it would have some carryover to sand bag carries, weight over bar etc. Somehow I never see them performed by strongman though.
Plus, I don’t know if zerchers aren’t a tad too risky on the bicep. But again I have never done them, so I might be off with this.

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Okay I can see why you would want to switch out front squats then. SSB squats would have been my suggestion too if you have access to one.

I am definitely looking forward to seeing how you will progress with zerchers. Maybe I end up trying them myself if they work out good for you.

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Yes I agree that these would be a great tool to use, but I think I would be getting in over my head (recovery-wise) if I was to do back squat and SSB squat in the same week. I can load up the SSB squat to very close to my back squat numbers which would just be too taxing on m CNS.

But time will tell and I’ll definitely be reporting my thoughts and results here once I give it a trial run.

Last day of my deload week tonight. I’m really looking forward to slabbing weight back on the bar next week and hopefully hop right back on the PR train.

I think I’m going to do a little carry medley tomorrow. I need to fill up my keg, and dig my atlas stone and sandbag out of the snow, but then it is on!

Depends how you go about it. I’m similar in that my straight bar and SSB aren’t too far off each other but I squat and SSB squat once a week each and recovery isn’t an issue. I just use SSB as an accessory after DL, so I do a bunch of reps at a lighter weight. Just a thought.

Ya, that’s true. Hmmm…now you have me thinking:

Mon = Squat(5/3/1) / Axle Bench (5/3/1)
Wed = Axle Continental Clean(5/3/1) / Axle Dead(5/3/1)
Fri = Log Clean (once) and Press(5/3/1) / SSB(BBB Style - 5x10)

That doesn’t look terrible to me. I might toy with that. Sorry Jim, I’m completely bastardizing your program. lol

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01/13/2017

Week 4 Day 3
(Last day of deload…finally…)

Axle Zercher Squat
75 x 5
95 x 5
115 x 5
145 x 5
185 x 5
225 x 5

I decided to just use the prescribed weights I had for front squats and give the zerchers a try. Went pretty decent. I did them from dead stop just below parallel and this really pumped my quads up nicely, even with just lower rep sets. I think due to the slow nature of the dead-stop lifts, and the bottom position being your ‘rest’ position the time under tension is relatively high.
Arms weren’t too uncomfortable holding that weight, but we will see how it feels once the weight climbs to mid 300’s.

Axle Press
25 x 5
75 x 5
115 x 5
115 x 5
115 x 5
115 x 5
135 x 5

Nothing crazy here. Happy to get some use out of my homemade axle as it has been recently just collecting dust under my homemade log!
I added a couple stripes of tape 10" in from the collars to give me a point of reference for my grip. I would typically have to re-grip after my first lift to try and find centre.

Giant Set
DB 1-Arm Rows
70lbs x 20reps x 3sets

Db 1-Arm Press
70 x 10 x 3

Ab Wheel Rollout
BW x 10 x 3

I was starting to sweat by the end of the giant set which was good, but decided to hit the treadmill to burn a few bonus calories tonight…and I suppose a little bit of cardio would be good for me…

Treadmill
3mph @ 2% incline - 5 mins with 50lb weighted vest

Done.

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It doesn’t look terrible at all.

As to the SSB, I think it’s the most useful of all the specialty bars. Haven’t tried a Duffalo yet, which I think might be another contender.

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Do you have your eyes on a show that has an axle clean and press in it? Otherwise I am not sure if it is worth the risk doing that lift weekly.
It is one of the unsafest lifts that I know of.

Sorry for interfering again :smiley:

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I actually don’t have any planned meets at this point. I’ll be getting into the couple local (not sanctioned) meets just to get the feel of it. Then I will try and figure out what I want to do after that.

I have only tried the continental clean once or twice before. So I wanted to give it an honest effort. Running it for one cycle I think I should be ok? I feel like at some point I’m going to need to get the feel for the movement.

EDIT: and don’t be sorry, I encourage the input!

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Here are some lofty, ambitious goals for 2017. Time to start chasing!

I just got back from taking the dogs for a 4.5km walk. I’m going to go grab my sandbag and fill my keg up and do some carries a bit later.

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Well my sandbag was quite frozen into the ground. Hooked up a ratchet strap around it and tried to break it free with my side by side and snapped the strap. Went and got my 2500lb tow strap and my machine wouldn’t move it. Had all 4 tires spinning in the snow.

I was kind of set on doing some carries so I rammed it with the front bumper of my machine and broke it free…although in doing this I tore a decent sized hole in the upper portion of the bag.

The bag was very frozen, so that made things very difficult. I’m not sure on the exact weight of it with all the moisture it was holding but it was HEAVY. It was 185lbs when I filled it dry in the summer, so I would assume it to be around 200lbs+.
I filled up and capped the keg at 130lbs.

Little carry medley:
100’ x 200lb sandbag
100’ x 130lb Keg
100’ x 200lb sandbag
100’ x 130lb Keg
100’ x 200lb sandbag
100’ x 130lb Keg

I would be lying if I said there wasn’t ample rest in between each of these sets. Wow. My cardio is terrible. If I want to have any chance at being competitive come Spring this needs to change.

I’m thinking that I might drop the sandbag weight down to around the 100-150lb mark for awhile and just do these mini medleys every week. This would also hopefully keep the material below the hole I just ripped. Gives the back a nice little pump and pisses my lungs off, I like it.

There was no drops during these walks, but I was close a couple times with the sandbag. After finishing with the sandbag and moving to the Keg, the keg felt light as a feather. This was fun though.

And that concludes my ramblings for the day.

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I’m sorry, but that was some funny shit! :laughing: That is dedication.

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01/16/2017
Woke up a 210.4lbs this morning. I’m down 2.2lbs in two weeks, so I’m pretty much where I want to be at this week. Lots of room to improve nutritionally, but I’m slowly getting better and better each week and hope to see some progress by just making small changes each week.
Heading out of town today for the week (for work) so I will be training in a hotel gym this week. There is also a pool/hot tub that I intend to spend some time in. This will likely mean eating out and sharing some pints with co-workers so I will do my best to limit the damage.
Workout this A.M to at least get one heavy session in before I leave.

5/3/1 Sleeper’s Modified Strongman Program (Sorry Jim)

Week 1 Day 1

Squat
135 x 5
225 x 5
255 x 5
305 x 5
355 x 5
405 x 6

Hips were feeling a bit beat up. Those heavy(ish) carries on Saturday had me stiff yesterday and then yesterday I went skating on the lake for ~2hrs and I haven’t been on skates for about a year. That mixed with the fact that I’m slipping this workout in in the morning as I’m heading out of town for work this week.

Axle Bench
135 x 5
185 x 5
205 x 5
225 x 5
255 x 5
295 x 6

I haven’t done much heavy benching with the axle, but this felt surprisingly good. 255lbs felt heavy, but 295lbs didn’t feel terrible so I’m happy with this.

Superset
Neutral Grip Chins
12, 12, 12
Ab Wheel Rollout
12, 12, 12

~45mins total time. Quick one, need to get packed for the week in a hotel and head to work!

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Isn’t it great when top sets feel better than warm-ups? I’ve found this to be the case most of the time.

Yes this seems to happen rather frequently on my 5’s week. Once I get a little higher in my %'s in my 3’s and 1’s week this unfortunately no longer holds true.