I just tried yoga last night, it is awesome!
an overhead movement I could actually compete with you on!? Nowās my chance!
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Ya man, Iāve been enjoying it too. For me it is a great little morning start to get loosened up for the day. Iāve noticed my hips/lower back hasnāt been causing me as much grief since doing it for just 10mins per day.
Haha, Iām a strict presser! Iām certain youād have me in a push press since my 1RM push press and strict press are about 10lbs apart. Not being able to hold a true front rack position kind of hurts me with this lift.
Also, your overhead strength is rapidly increasing, while mine has been around this level for the better part of a year nowā¦ eff you
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If you feel like working on your front rackā¦
I found most of it pretty useful. Also had the benefit of helping me not strain (as often or as painfully) my forearms or biceps while doing other things.
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Iāll give this a watch tonight, but I have done a few weeks of triceps rolling on the barbell (as pictured) and using the foam roller. Iāve done lots of band dislocates, stretches, etc and Iām maybe 1/2inch closer to a front rack?
Too many damn priorities in the gym at the momentā¦
I feel you man, but truly, if you have an eye for competing the ability to generate leg drive is going to be huge unless you just are a monster strict presser. For reference, my strict press probably tops out right now around 185, at best. I can push press 225 however. If you got it down, you could add some serious poundage to that overhead of yours.
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This is what keeps changing. One minute (like after reading someoneās contest write-up) Iām competing tomorrow if I had the chance, the next minute Iām not sure if I will ever actually compete.
There is one guy I need to speak with who only lives like 45mins from me who has been in the sport for quite some time to get a feel for what opportunities I have.
Right now it is a struggle to find ANY strongman competitions in Ontario. Any that I HAVE been able to find are all open (no weight classes), so while yes it would be fun and good to get experience, it just doesnāt have the competitive feel that I would be doing it for. Iād just be going against experienced goliaths who have 100lbs of bodyweight a foot of height on me. Excuse? Maybe, but if Iām going to be torturing my body through a strongman competition Iād like it to have some sort of competitive nature to it. Not just being the smallest one there who is getting injured on the ridiculously heavy implements meant for the big boys.
Anyways, full circle back to the pressing, yes, I should bump it back up on my priority list because it would be pretty cool to press 300lbs overhead. Sitting at a 255lb strict press at the moment so Iām sure if I could figure out the front rack and then get some technique worked in 300lbs shouldnāt be too far away.
Thanks for calling me out, gentlemen.
EDIT: OK, I dug into the interwebz a little bit and did find a few competitions that are under 4 hrs away from meā¦so that excuse is gone if I really want it, itās there.
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Itās all about technique! Push press is a way to do assisted OHP and jerks add even more to that.
Someone shared that video with me; it hurts and helps get your arms higher.
As far as the front rack position goes, I once heard a coach say to just do it and deal with the pain until your wrists finally get used to it.
I also find that straps help out on push press in regards to wrist pain.
I do remember this part about them!
This is what I was doing, but it was hurting for a few days after and affecting my other lifts, not worth it to me in the slightest.
Straps or wrist wraps?
Straps. I wrap the bar just like when Iām doing cleans. They seem to stop your wrists from going back. This means the bar moves up when you drive instead of the bar pushing your hands down (forcing your wrists to stretch a bit more).
Make sense?
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So here is the competition coming up (possibly too soon) on August 12. Itās ~3.5hrs away but it is near where my in-laws live so that wouldnāt be bad to make a weekend out of it.
Iām sitting at ~207lbs right now but weigh-in is the evening before the competition so I should be able to hit 197lbs for that to put me in the MMW.
Men :
Less than 80 kilos = light weight
80 kilos to 89.9 kilos = middle weight
90 kilos to 104.9 kilos = light heavy weight
105 kilos to 121.9 = heavy weight
122 kilos and up = super heavy weight
My thoughts on the events:
Max Deadlift: No need to do much different than what Iām currently doing. Hopefully be good for around 600lbs here. Nice low starting weight.
Max Axle C&P: This is where not being able to full rack will hurt me. Fortunately I should be good for up to around 250lbs before I have to worry much about technique. Again, reasonable starting weight.
Max Distance Sandbag Carry: Hmm, I have almost no sandbag carry experience. My concern would be with picking the damn thing up and then placement on my chest/bearhug. Carries arenāt my strength at all, so this would be something Iād focus on for the next couples weeks leading up to the competition.
Stone Over Bar: Yikes. Iām fortunate to have some stones at my disposal. I have a 145lb, 175lb, 215lb and 245lb. I have not yet been able to lap the 245lb stone (weeaaakkk). It is still sitting in my front yard where it was unloaded off the guys truck I bought it from. So a 230lb stone COULD zero me on this event. I would definitely invest some time into hitting the stones pretty hard as well if I decide to get in on this competition. Overall, decent lineup of events IMO, nothing too out of the ordinary here.
Iām currently checking the schedule with my wife and seeing if this weekend could work for us.
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This made me laugh way too hard, and fit this situation perfectlyā¦
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Sounds like a fun, fairly well-rounded competition! For the sandbag, personally, I prefer to shoulder the thing & run with it that way - I find itās much better balanced.
How tall is the bar?
Is there any other kind?
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This might be a little nicer to your lower back after already doing max deadlifts and axle C&P.
Not a clue! The only info posted was that chart.
But speaking of that, I need to rig something up at home to give myself a bar to put my stones over. I just missed a Kijiji deal yesterday for an adjustable squat stand for $45. That would have worked.
Haha, ya I guess that was sort of redundant. Just like saying a ādrunken round of golfā. I tend to specify when itās a sober round of golf, since those are much more rare.
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Honestly itās a bit of a trade-off; it putās a lot of pressure on the shouldered side instead of in the center. However, when I run with the sandbag in front, I fail when my arms give-out. When I run with it shouldered, I drop it when my body gives out.
Ah bummer. Yeah, you could probably just load-up a barbell on a squat stand whatever height you need to practice at and use that. Stone-over-bar or to platforms give taller, leaner fellows a bit of an advantage - they are my best event.
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Short and stocky here, soā¦yeah haha
Thanks for the tips though! My wife is out of town that weekend, but I could probably swing this if I really want to.
I need to pull the trigger at some point and see what happensā¦
All depends on the weight. If itās light enough to shoulder, definitely do that. Much easier to breathe that way.
If not, try to get it high on your chest, then get your arms underneath and interlock your fingers. If your arms donāt have to be flexed, itās one less thing to fatigue.
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Lol, well youāll be good with the deadlift. & my pleasure man. Seriously though, you should really go for it man. As far as learning goes, the kind of knowledge you get from competing is just something that canāt be obtained in training. And itās a lot of fun! If you sign-up asap, youāll have skin in the game.
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