Howdy. No, I live/work/train in and around Corpus Christi. I love Austin, but i don’t do too much training there beyond some 12oz curls. BUT i think the sponsorsing strongman gym from my competition there was local. I can’t think of whom it was, but the event was the hill country strongman classic held in June. I bet there’d be some good ones up there. Hell, i bet the crossfit gyms there have equipment too.
Cool man, much appreciated on the info. I’m no where near strongman shape, being a 5’7" 165lb guy I don’t think it’s in my future, but it’s something i’d like to work towards. BOL in your goals
No problem man. And don’t count yourself out, there is a range of weight classes. I came in 20lbs light in my first competition and still had a blast. If you ever feel like giving it a go, have at it man, because to be honest you’ll probably never feel strong enough. But the camaraderie is amazing, and everyone there is cheering you on. Pardon my ignorance here, but what does BOL stand for? Lol.
That is great to hear! I will follow your progress closely, as always and I wish you the best for your prep. You are going to kill it!
I think it means Best Of Luck. 
Thanks @ChickenLittle !
Ha, it seems so obvious now. And if you meant that doubly than thank you! I’ve been checking out your progress as well and you’re doing great
Glad to have you following along & supporting as always.
Thanks man, I’ve got a good feeling about this one!
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COMPETITION UPDATE
-
Truck Pull
Novice Men and Women will pull a tow truck.
All open divisions will pull a Fire Truck or equivalent. -
Press Medley: Circus DB, Axle, Log press away for as many reps in remaining time (60 sec.)
Novice Women- 65, 75, 85
Novice Men- 90,145,165
LWM200- 120,200,220
MWM231- 130,220,240
HWM265- 140,240,260
SHWM265±150,260,280 -
Frame Carry/Farmers walk- Unlimited Drops, Carried 60ft
Novice Women- 115
Novice Men-165
LWM200- 400-420
MWM231- 450-470
HWM285- 480-500
SHWM285± 500-520 -
Texas Stone Carry (H-Stone) for distance, pick from platform.
Novice women- 165 keg
Novice Men- 200
LWM200- 240
MWM231- 260
HWM265- 280
SHWM265+ 300 -
Stone’s over 48” bar in 60 sec.
Novice women- 115
Novice Men- 155-175
LWM200- 220-240
MWM231- 240-260
HWM265- 300-330
SHWM265+ 330-350
I like the updates and am thinking I can really do some damage in this one, as long as I can get my pressing locked down and peak on the trap bar.
12-6-16
Cycle 2 - Building the Monolith p2: week 3, session 1
*disclaimer, I won’t get to log this tonight, so I’m pre-logging it now. Since volume is already programmed in and I’m never specific with assistance work anyway, doesn’t matter really.
EDITED: did the workout
Squat
45 x 5
95 x 5
135 x 5
185 x 5
205 x 5
235 x 5
260 x 5 x 5
Neutral Press
45 x 5
65 x 5
100 x 5
110 x 5
125 x 11 (recovery PR, est is 170 max, which is around where I was befoe my sholder got messy)
Chins, face-pulls, & dips: 100 reps give-or-take
Definitely meant it doubly! Hope you kick some ass!
Going to go train here in a bit. For now though for no particular reason other than I just finished mapping it out, I feel like posting about my plans for off-season. I aim to gain a little bit more size up until the competition, and then begin to recomp in February (we start going back to the beach in March 'round these parts, if not a bit before) and compete again around the summertime in the 175 class.
Below is the off-season cycle (cycle 5) which I’ll be doing in February, It’s inspired by the recent 5/3/1 for hardgainers program, in that each lift is trained differently, but it’s reworked to better suit my goals. Unless of course the lady and I decide to do the 10,000 kb swing challenge which we’ve been eyeing.
It’s modeled after a push, pull, legs split in terms of the main lift of the day. Week one will be squat, bench, and deadlift, and week 2 will be front squats, overhead press, and power clean (axles & swiss bar, and the trap bar will be used in place of the barbell for all but the squats). The assistance, however, will make it more of a full-body program, & I’ll still pepper in events on Saturdays.
Really looking forward to it actually.
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12/9/16
Cycle 2 - Building the Monolith p2, week 3, session 2
Close-grip Axle Bench
45 x 5
95 x 5
135 x 5
165 x 5
185 x 5
210 x 5 x 5
rows 5x10
curls
Notes
Trap Bar deads
Warmed up to the second set, then realized that I had zero time left for the work sets. I’m not really going to have the time do commute to the gym after work, we’ve a pretty packed evening, so I’ll just finish the trap bar deads on another day. I really like the monolith program & have had good results do far, but the only gripe I suppose I have it that I can’t finish the session during my lunchtime, and for me that’s by far the best time to train.
12-11-16
Cycle 2 - building the monolith p2: week 3, session 3
Trap Bar Deadlift
245 x 5
275 x 5
325 x 5
355 x 3 x 5
Squats
45 x 5
95 x 5
135 x 5
205 x 5
235 x 5
260 x 5
195 x 20
Press
100 x 10 x 5
Chins
Bw x 5
+30# chain x 5
+60# chain x 5
+90# chain x 3
+60# chain x 5
Bw x 5
Front rack shrugs
135 x 3 x 20
Pull-aparts
100ish
Notes
This wraps up building the monolith. Doing the trap bar deads and squats in the same session was rough, but necessary. I’ve also realized that I’d much rather squat for 20 reps versus doing 5x5. Onto the contest prep.
Congrats on getting it knocked out dude. You see any weight gain?
Gracias hombre. Yeah actually, I’m up about 5lbs in the morning. Before monolith i was waking up around 175 or a tad shy, and I’m on the heels of 180 now. In full disclosure, i didn’t follow the diet recommendations, rather i just did what i always do when really trying to gain, which is to eat lots of whatever i want no matter how bad it is for me: pizzas, tacos, beer, I’ve cream, fried everything, etc.
While the original intention was to gain weight, i must say that arguably the biggest improvement is in my capacity to handle a higher total workload in a given session. I think it’s helped establish a base to really push the intensity from here on in
Took a little recovery time from the monolith for business/family travel. Back now.
12-16-16
Cycle 3 - young jim wendler: competition prep p1
Squats
45 x 5
95 x 5
135 x 5
205 x 5
230 x 5
255 x 10 (PR est max 339)
Close-grip Axle bench
45 x 5
95 x 5
135 x 5
160 x 5
180 x 5
205 x 10 (est max 273)
RKC plank: 3
DB Bench: 3 x10
dips: 3 x max
neck work: 25 reps all four ways w 10 lbs
Notes
I’m very happy with how the PR sets went. I went in wanting 10 on each, but it was more of a “that’d be really cool if I could…” mentality, and as the bar kept moving I just kept on counting. I had a couple more reps on each, but they’d have looked bad. I don’t think hitting these PRs right after completing the monolith cycles is coincidental however.
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12-17-16
Cycle 3 - young jim wendler contest prep p1: week 1, session 2
Tire axle cleans
145 x 3
165 x 5
205 x 1
Medley
3 rounds of:
-95lb circus db press
-145# tire axle press
165# log for reps (7,8,5)
Trap bar deads
135 x 3
225 x 3
275 x 3
315 x 3
345 x 15 (pr)
Axle tire deads
135 x 5
225 x 5
315 x 5
405 x 3 (cluster)
425 x 2 (cluster)
Axle timed hold
2 x 225# for 14,15 seconds
Kb swings
3 x 20
Chins
About 30 reps total
notes
Had more reps in me on the trap bar, but i wanted to save the juice for event work
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Things are looking good man! I’m starting up the Young Jim template as well, so I’ll be following along with ya.
Thanks man! Been following along with you as well, 6 days a week sounded tough. Stoked to follow your progress with this template & see how you tweak it to your own needs, may seal a few things
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