Never Go Full Strongman (or Bikini)

Yesterday (Her & I)

DC Style Upper Day

Bench w/ fat gripz (me): 185 for 14
Bench (her): 55 for 15

Seated BB OHP w/ fat gripz (me): 135 for 11?
Seated BB OHP (her): 35 for 15

Narrow grip push-ups (me): 20ish
Narrow grip knee push-ups (her): 20ish

Neutral ring pull-ups (me): 20 or so
Neutral grip lat pulldown (her): 20 or so

Cable row (me): 15
Cable row (her): 20

Notes: We just got a new condo & it was in pretty rough shape, so pretty much any time we haven’t been at work we’ve been fixing up the place. Should have most of the fix-up & move completed after this coming weekend. Just trying to fit in training where I can at the moment. I’ve been working the CoC #1 for a while now, and can close it 5x in my right hand (couldn’t close it once a few weeks ago). Also I’ve been doing some bodyweight stuff & neck work.

Went to the gym with strongman stiff today. The whole place was like a gym rats wet dream. Outside they had tires of all sizes, stones, a yoke, farmers handles, sleds, logs… even a car deadlift rack. Inside, there were axles, swiss bars, chains. I tried everything i saw.

But obviously, i began with the strongman stuff. Holy shit. I hit the log first. Didn’t use much weight, but i felt like i had a natural knack for it. It just felt right. Going to enjoy working with it.

The stones though. … damn. Couldn’t even budge the smallest one. I thought for sure with a 400lb deadlift it would at least move. Zero carryover. After a few attempts and scraped arms i went for the iron mind sand bag, and as punisher warned it was a little shitty, but it served to supplement the stones.

After that it gets hazy. I worked with all of the equipment listed above, and even combined a few. Great workout, and a much needed reality check.

I think i need to add some size to apply to these events, and treat right now as a bit of a pre season and really try to build my strength in all areas. Thinking of moving (maybe next week when we’re done with the move) to a 4 day split, and working the events in on the most applicable days as either main lifts, assistance lifts, or conditioning.

I want some freedom to manipulate things as needed while keeping within a proven structure, so I’m either thinking a 531 Triumvirate + NOV type of approach, or following along with what Alpha is doing with the conjugate system. Cube for strongman could be in the cards too.

Awesome that you got some opportunities to use the implements. It makes a huge difference for sure.

As for integrating them, I’m a fan of throwing an event into each day of training rather than having a pure events day myself. Pressing the log or axle on a press day, loading on a deadlift day, medleys on a squat day, etc. Just whatever lends itself to the day, just like what you mentioned.

Yeah man I’m stoked to start training with them… and I’m hoping the stone thing was due to atrocious technique haha.

Glad you like that approach. For this contest in particular, the events just align so much with regular training days that I think I could integrate them pretty well. PLUS, the more days I spend in the strongman area of the gym, the greater my chances are of running into some strong SOBs who can help me out with some stuff, lol.

Hey man, just found your log. The gym you are talking about sounds AWESOME. How far out are you from your competition? Wishing you the best!

@Koestrizer Thanks! Dude I’m so stoked about it. I’ve always wanted to go but it wasn’t really feasible in the past; glad that’s changed. The competition is on June 25th, so luckily I’ve got a fair amount of time to really build some strength, size, and most importantly skill, but it’s still close enough that I’ve no time to slack considering all of the ground that needs covering.

Good luck in your contest as well! Been following along in your log; I’m looking forward to the write-up. By the way I thought your description of having difficulty rolling the strap around the bar came across quite clearly, nothing lost in translation there.

Puh I am glad about that. Also I have never had issues communicating with english speaking people in person I sometimes feel foolish writing in english. Seems like you have found the right place to build up for your competition.

How heavy was it? Tacky will add a BUNCH to your stone load.

Man to be honest i have absolutely no idea. I talked to the owner even and he said he wasn’t sure. Apparently his buddy is a strongman competitor and helped him set the area up, and that they threw broken dumbells in the mold. Hopefully I’ll have the chance to talk to that fellow.

I didn’t really know the weights of anything really, even the logs were various sizes. Which, at least at first, is kind of cool in that i had no preconceived notions regarding how I’d fare. But that’s definitely something I’ll need to find out lol.

Really? Nice thanks for the tip man, I’ll have to snag some. Do i just apply tacky directly to the forearms?

Yeah man until you mentioned it i had no clue you weren’t a native speaker haha.

I think you’re right, now the biggest challenge will be not getting carried away with all the new shiny objects.

Forearms, biceps, hands, chest (if bare shirted), pretty much anywhere you plan to make contact with the stones. Don’t worry though: tacky is a mess, and it will get everywhere regardless of where you intended to put it, haha. If you’re competing in June in Texas, you may want to look into a hot weather tacky, as certain tackies will turn into soup if they get too hot.

To elaborate, Dave Ostlund’s Elite Tacky brand has the most choices ranging from super cold weather to very hot weather specialties. It’ll also be prudent to get some help from guys who have some experience in loading stones to tape your arms up real good. To this day I cannot be arsed to do it so I just load bare skin, however for most people they’d rather go through the pain in the ass effort of taping up than to deal with the pain and contusions caused from tacky contact to the stone.

So toiling efforts come with stones but they are still the funnest event imo. Find out those weights so you can track your progress!

There is this new stuff on the market called “Bat Tak” which apparently comes in a hot weather formula too, but I’ve never used it to be able to say. I liked the Elite cold weather tacky.

Haha, well i guess i shouldn’t invest too much in the clothes department then. Tacky bath it is.

Man i actually think this one is inside a convention center, but that’s probably a rarity so sounds like a great way to go. Thanks for that nug. To be honest I didn’t even think about the summer heat… as a Texan I’m a tad disappointed in myself.

Oh badass, thanks man. I’ll look that up. If i can get someone to help a brother out I’ll probably go the route of taping, but if not road rash it is haha.

Glad to hear you say that man. I have a feeling that the first time i lift it I’ll have an overwhelming desire to go out and slay a wooly mammoth. Unfortunate though as I’m sure they’re endangered.

Sweet man I’ll check that out too, thanks for the info

Spent all of Saturday moving furniture to a new upstairs apartment, and most of Sunday working with bricks, concrete, and wood building a deck.

Not technically training in the conventional sense (rather, applying), but I feel as though I’ve have 2 hard training days back-to-back, and it should be accounted for in the log.

Schedule should start to even out pretty soon.

Yesterday:

Went down to the bay and did a bunch of clean & presses with various jetty rocks, & picked up the bigger jetty rocks. Kind of sketchy as some were on the slippery side, and I was standing on sand.

My left shoulder feels sketchy from this (or, at least this brought it out). Either I didn’t warm up my shoulder enough or I’ve been doing overhead presses too frequently w/ not enough direct rear-delt work. Luckily, from past experience the remedy is a long shoulder warm-up, lots of raises, rear-delt work, and pump work.

Finally the move is winding down. All that’s left to do is down-size our storage room.

Still trying to think of how to go about the next 20 weeks of training. I decided to veer away from conjugate, as I couldn’t really figure out away to smoothly apply it toward my goals. So instead, I decided to go the way of block periodization. Taking a page from Wendler’s book, I decided to make each phase 1-2 cycles for a total of 5. The plan is detailed below.

My concerns are 1, that the movements in the first block could be too specific. (that and I don’t love to modify Wendler’s stuff). And 2, (again in block 1) is pressing so frequently.

“Building the Monolith” (Accumulation) - Goal is increasing strength potential through size

2 cycles

(sample week 1)
Monday
Front Squat – 70×5, 80×5, 90×5, 90×5, 90×5, 90×5, 90×5
Log Press – 70×5, 80×5, 90×5, 70xAMRAP
Chins – 100 total reps
Face Pulls/Band Pull-a-parts – 100 total reps
Dips – 100-200 total reps

Wednesday
Deadlift – 70×5, 80×5, 90×5, 90×5, 90×5
Axle Bench Press – 70×5, 80×5, 90×5, 90×5, 90×5, 90×5, 90×5
DB Rows – 5 sets of 10-20 reps
Curls – 100 total reps

Friday
Back Squat – 70×5, 80×5, 90×5, 45% x 20
Log Press – 10 sets of 5 reps @ 70%
Chins – 5 sets of 5 reps (weighted)
Face Pulls/Band pull-a-parts – 100 total reps
Shrugs – 100 total reps

Mixed Method 4-day Split (Transmutation) -goal, continued strength development and specificity

2 cycles

Hinge (351 w/ down-set work)
• Tire Flips
• Rack Pull 351 SVR2
• abs
• sled pushes/pulls

Horizontal Press (DC)
• Plyo push-ups
• Chest
• Shoulders (pressing stability assistance, ex: Z presses)
• Triceps
• Back width
• Back Thickness (hand-over-hand sled dragging)

Squat (351 Triumvirate)
• Jumps: 5x3
• Front Squat: 351 SVR
• Stones/simulation
• Abs
• Yoke Walk

Overhead Press – Continuous Ramp Method (3RM, 5RM, 1RM)
• Throws
• Strict Overhead variation: ramp to RM
• Push press variation: Start at 70% strict press, ramp to RM
• Jerk Variation: start at 70% push press, ramp to RM
• Mechanical drop-sets & isolation work
• Overhead yoke walk

Full Body, Full Strongman (Realization) - goal: movement proficiently
1 cycle

Day 1:
Tire flips/keg toss: 3x5 (light)
Rack Pull: 65%x5, 75%x5, 85%x5
Press: light 3x5
Stones: Heavy series
Sled: 50’ push, pull, & drag (heavy)

Day 2:
Tire Flips/keg toss: 3x5 (light)
Rack Pull: 65%x5, 75%x5, 85%x5
Press: heavy
Stones: light series
Sled: 50’ Push, pull, & drag (light)

Day 3:
Tire Flips/keg toss: 3x5 (heavy)
Rack Pull: 531
Press: light 3x5
Stones: light Series
Sled: 50’ push, pull, & drag (light)

Yesterday:
(me) Axle practice

Axle squats
bar x8
1 plate each side x 8
2 plates each side x 8
3 plates each side x 1
2 plates each side x 8

Axle bench
bar x 8
1 plate each side x8
2 plates each side x 8
1 plate each side + chains x 10
*all super-setted with rear & side raises

(her)
Barbell back squat
bar x 8
95 x8
115 x 5
95 x 5

Barbell bench press
bar x 8
55 x 8
55 x 8
55 x 5

  • all super-setted with rear delt flys

notes: Axle was certainly lighter than a standard barbell, but I didn;t want to push the weight on it just yet. It’s certainly an interesting piece of equipment. I noticed that it was significantly more difficult to correct myself if I wobbled a bit or was a little uneven. Seems like the spin on the barbell gives you a lot more wiggle room to shift around, but doing the same on the axle you really have to muscle things around to correct it.

Just signed up for the gym. stoked to really get in there and put in some work, it’s been sorely missed.

Today
Events practice

Warm-up:
5 rounds
orange log (light) cleans x5
Super-set
Empty yoke walks x 100’ft (around a tire) x5

Work:
5 rounds
Green log (heavy) cleans x3-5
Orange log cleans
Bodyweight sled push x 100’

Finisher:
Yoke + 180lbs 50’ x 2

Notes: i think working on the snatch in my prior training really helped this. Not the catch obviously, but the hip-snap where the weight touches the hips before lift-off is virtually the same. After its moving up i just roll it up my body by drivibg my elbows under and I’m solid.

The “heavy” yoke on the other hand. … was humbling. Got a bit dizzy in a cool way. Ready to get down on my accumulation block and get after this shit.