Yeah I’m glad I remembered it… I actually prefer counting backwards from 5 so I’ll try to employ that next time. No kidding man. I’m fighting to stay tight at the top of the movement; usually at the point where I’m doing more breathing than squatting.
Thanks! Gonna keep on truckin’.
3-15-16
CONDITIONING
2+ mile weight vest walk w/ 55lbs.
3-16-15
DE Upper
Snatch-grip high-pull from mid-thigh: 5x3-5 @ 135
Assistance
3-way shoulder circuit
curls rest-pause set
3-18-15
Been really jonesing for a ppl week so…
ME Lower
Conventional Deadlift:
45x5
135x5
225x3
315x2 (felt heavy?)
405x1 (belt and straps)
425x1 (belt and straps, but PR!)
455x6"
Front levers: 3x5
Above the knee cleans: 9, 8 with 135
Bent row w/ straps: 15 with 135
Machine pull-downs: 5x10
Face pulls: 50 reps
Neck harness: 60 reps w/ 25lbs.
Notes: gotta get this lockout deal solved. Also, my fiance is hopping on 531, so more on that when she begins.
3-20-16
ME Upper
A) Swiss Bar Bench (close neutral grip) w/ 65lbs of chain
45+chain x 3
135+chain x 3
185+chain x 1
195+chain x 1
225+ chain x miss
Shoulder complex (all wide grip & seated): 3 rounds
B1) BTN press
B2) Bradford Press
B3) Military press/Z press
C1) Swiss Bar Bench (close neutral grip) w/ 65lbs of chain
5x5-10 w/ 135 (switching around the grips
C2) 20 pull-aparts
C3) Curls
3-21-16
DE Lower
10 Jumps
RE Lower
Squats: 20 x 235
Good AMs: 20 x 135
Abs: 5 sets of wheel & leg raises
Neck harness: 50-100 reps w/ 25 lbs
Notes:
the 235 was crushing. Didn’t feel like I hit full depth on a few. Which isn’t a huge deal as the squat’s not tested, but I really need only one variable changing for the sake of progression. Gotta look out for that next time. It was really hard either way though.
I had to switch from ab wheel to leg raises because during a roll-out my calf cramped so hard it it literally looked like the center got sucked into the bone. It was beating like a heart. Not like I saw my heartbeat in it, but it was fuckin’ spasming like it was pumping blood through chambers.
Good session. Need to warm-up a lot better though I think.
EDIT:
She wanted to switch things up, and is doing 531 right now so…
HER
3-20-16
Ran some hills then…
A) 15 med ball throws from the chest
B) Bench: 3x45, 3x50, 3x55
C) Bench: 10x3 (EMOM) with 45
D) Back work (didn’t watch what she did, but it was just a bunch of back exercises I’m assuming)
3-21-16
A) Box Jumps: 5x3
B) Squats: 3x80, 3x90, 6x105
C) 10x3 (EMOM) with 80
D) 3x10 hip thrusts
E) isolation leg work
Notes: I’m helping her structure her explosive,main, & supplemental work… she likes doing her own stuff after that so beyond me making a few suggestions when asked she does as she pleases.
She likes to feel like she’s working and hates doing the same thing from week to week. So I figure as long as she hits the basic lifts, we can play around with her supplemental work a bit.
Nice work, I’m toying with the idea of trying a Strongman competition maybe in 2017, but definitely gearing my workouts more and more towards strongman/athletic training. I will definitely be following along and ‘stealing’ some tips along the way!
@littlesleeper
Nice man! It’d be awesome to see more strongman-focused people here. It’ll be my first as well, but training for it is really fun. Although I can’t yet speak from personal experience, I haven’t heard a single negative thing about entering a competition. Rant excited.
Glad to have you following, hope i can offer some steal-worthy stuff. Haha.
☆3-24-16☆
Me
EVENTS
So for a while the owner of my gym has been trying to introduce me to the resident strongman. When competing, he had a 400lb stone, a 400lb log press, and a 1,000lb yoke under his belt. I finally met him Thursday. Guy was about 6’7" and built like a tank, and was nice as hell. He spent well over half an hour showing me stone technique, and even let me keep his spider tacky.
So…
Log press/circus bell press: 50-100 reps
235-245lb 18"stone: several attempts, finally getting it to comp height! (PR)
305lb 20", broke the ground! (PR)
HER
_SHOULDERS, ARMS, & ABS _
push press: 5x3 w/ 45lbs
3 different Arm, shoulder & abs circuit: 6 rounds each
Treadmill HIIT
☆3-26-16☆
ME
ME Lower
Trap bar Deadlift (high handles): Ramped to 365x5
RE Upper
50 chins/levers
50 btn (mostly) presses w/ 65-75lbs (did standing, seated, & Z)
Notes: back was achy from stones so i decided not to push too much today. Got a solid 5 so I’m fine with that.
HER
Cycle 1 5s week
hinge & lower
Deadlift: 110x3, 125x3, 140x5
Fsl: 10x3 w/ 110 (3 reps emom)
Goblet squats, isolations, etc.
Notes: she’s really enjoying 531 so far… i think she’s starting to get the whole sub max training idea. This incorporation of the 10x3 sets using fsl is going well, and she loves it; says it’s easier on her joints.
Congrats on the stone PR’s. I just got my hands on a Keg and a Sandbag is in the mail but I assume the stones are a different animal entirely.
Someone just mentioned to me that a guy I went to high school with is into strongman so I might have to hit him up for someone else to train with.
Dude, congrats on the stones. That 305 is gonna feel good as FUCK to finally get. I’ve learned training stones every week for me just destroys my back and biceps. This kind of makes me train it with more attention to form and technique, so that’s something to work on. Instead of “I need to lift this heavy ass stone by this time” you should think “how can I lift this in a manner that makes it easy and faster.”
Of course for your current show coming up you kind of HAVE to shoot for just getting the damn stone up to contest height, BUT it’s just a mindset for the future perhaps. Always be thinking about the things a lot of guys don’t think about, like the running in between kinda stuff and other transitions therein. Anyway, strong rant, good shit man.
@littlesleeper
Thanks! I finally feel like the training has been paying off. Nice finds, a Keg sounds awesome. I’d like to train with one too, haha. I made a thread in strongman forum a while back that was like “is strict pressing necessary” or something. A little ways down, @Alpha & @T3hPwnisher posted some great vids & info on Keg lifting techniques. Yeah stones are weird and super technique based unless you’re a monster, but I think you could get in some good practice w/ a heavy sandbag. And hit him up man, training w/ an experienced guy was invaluable imho. The guy who helped me out gave me tips on shit I didn’t even know to ask.
@strongmanvinny2
'Preciate it partner! I think the 305 is super close. I may even have had it that night if I was so fucking burnt by that point. Funny you should say that. The strongman guy was telling me to work toward “one-motioning” it. Hopefully w/ more practice that’ll be a reality.
It wreaks havoc on my body too. My elbows are always on fire afterward along with my low back & biceps. Since I sort of get the technique now, I think I can bring the sandbag back into rotation and drill technique while still giving giving myself a bit of a break.
3-28-16
ME-
DELOAD
Jump Rope
DB stiff leg deads: 3x8 w/ 70lb DBs
Axle press (clean from high pins once): 8 (PR),5,3 w/ 135lbs
Axle clean (high pins): 10 resp w/ 135
Axle curls: 35, 15 w/ axle
Good AMs: 3x10 w/ 135
Jump rope > neck harness > wrist curls
HER
Throws: 5x3
Bench: 5x45, 5x45, 5x50
Bench down-set - 3 rounds of 5-4-3-2-1 w/ 45lbs
Back assistance
3-29-16
ME
DELOAD
50 reps of tire deadlift apparatus w/ 2 big tires on it
HER
Box Jumps: 5x3
Squat: 5x75, 5x85, 5x100
Squat down-sets - 3 rounds of 5-4-3-2-1 w/ 45lbs
Leg assistance
Man I envy you for being able to train in such a gym! Also congrats on the Stones!
@Koestrizer
Haha, yeah I’m pretty gratefully that I lucked out so much geographically speaking. There’s a lot of corn-fed country dudes where I’m from so the “hardcore” gym scene down here is better than I think it would be in many places. Thanks! Now I feel like I can really start training effectively.
3-30-16
ME
4 sets of 5 hill sprints
HER
6 sets of 2 sprints
Ok so slackin’ a bit on the logging. So…
4-1-16?
ME
Deload
… don’t remember what I did.
HER
Cycle1, 5s
Med ball throws: 5x3
Push press: 5x3 w/ bar
shoulder work.
4-2-16?
ME
Deloadish
Did about 5 x 100’ with a 190lb sled holding a heavy sandbag.
HER
Cycle1, 5s
High pull: 4x5 w/ 65lbs
Deadlift: 5x100, 5x115, 5x130,
Deadlift down-set: 3 x 5-4-3-2-1 (15 secs rest between sets) w/ 100lbs.
1 round rest-pause hip thrust
2 rounds of:
-left leg hip thrust
-right leg hip thrust
-hip thrust
-pulses
-bw hip thrust
Sled. 5x100’ w/ 190lbs (damn…)
yesterday, 4-4-16
ME
cycle1, break-in 5’s week
med ball throws: 5x3 w/ 20lbs
fat-grip bench: 5x155, 5x175, 5x200, 5x5x155
shoulder raises & pull-aparts
HER
Cycle 1, 531s
Bench: 5x45, 3x55, "6"x60, 5x5x45 (paused)
*she really did 8, but only counted 6, so I went with it. She’ll be stoked when she crushes it next time haha.
Lat pull-down & rear delt super-set.
NOTAS:
She’s doing well and really likes the program a lot, which of course makes me happy as to be honest I stress over her programming more than my own.
Since my own short-term goal had been met (stone to comp height), I can restructure my training a tad. I ran conjugate (as brief as it was), so I could train stones without actually training stones. Now, I can devote a training day to each event and just really drill it; so I can get strong and good at the events.
The specific template will likely vary a bit, but the bones are 531 with main lifts being:
ME:
-SGHP leading into 18" pull
-fat-grip bench
-Axle press using the log for supplemental work
-low TM front squat (as a stone warm-up)
HER:
-high pull leading into conventional DL
-Bench
-push press
-Back squat
-Lots of sled pullz/hills for both of us!
for the next cycle, we’ll BOTH be running a modified SVR2 (mine will be a bit more of a mish-mash). We’ll run it with the regular 531 set-up, instead of the 5 reps for everything. She’s just getting used to the 531 rep protocol so I don’t want to mess with that, and I don’t have any particular attachment to sets of 5.
Also, she has decided not to compete this time around. A bit bittersweet for her.
Yesterday
ME
Cycle 1: 3s Week
Deadlift:
3x235
3x255
3x275 (straps)
8x330 (straps, belt)
18" deadlift:
20x255
Goblet box squat (paused):
5x10x100lbs
45lb Axle curls
55 reps (rest-pause)
Notes: after watching a few videos i previously hadn’t seen on starting strongman, i decided to take the advice and pull conventional for the main lift and pull from 18" as the second exercise.
The paused goblet box squats are keepers. In the video, he said both front squat and box squats carried over well, so i decided to combine them in a sense. Bet they’ll carry over to stones well too.
4-10-16
ME
Cycle 1; 3s week (SVRish)
20lb med ball throws: 5x3
Axle press: 3x115, 3x130, 7x140
Axle mechanical drop-set (strict press > push press > split jerk)
20x115 (fsl)
Z muscle snatch > Z btn snatch-grip press > Z btn press > Z Bradford press > Z press
3 rounds: 5+/- reps each movement w/ 65lb axle
Lots & lots of rear delt-flies, & lateral raises
Superset with:
50 total front levers
HER
Cycle 1; 531 week (main w/ fsl variant)
10lb med ball throw: 5x3
High-pulls: 5x3 w/ 65lbs
Deadlift: 5x115, 3x130, 5x145 (PR)
Deadlift fsl: 5x5x115
Push-press: 5x3 w/ 45lbs.
Shoulder & leg assistance
Notes:
Me – My axle press was supposed to be a mechanical drop-set, with a push press & split jerk following the strict press. Oh well. I decided to work lats on pressing day (specifically levers & the like), as honestly I feel more from my lats during a press than I do anything else; got to keep that shelf locked.
Her – I can see she’s either getting more explosive or just better at the high pull & push-press. Either way, she’s progressing; no rush to load either movement though. She’ll be beginning SVRII on her next training day, but using the 531 set-up instead of 5s for everything since she’s just getting used to the set-up.
Her knee is really bothering her, so for squats she will be doing 5’s pro with box squats. The weight isn’t bothering her but the total volume is, so her TM will progress as planned: 2.5lbs for upper, 5 for lower. I know Jim said to keep a woman’s TM the same for three cycles, but that’s not how her head works, so I figured micro-loading would work.
4-13-16
ME
Cycle 1; SVR Variant
Mobility circuit
5x3 throws with 20lb med ball
Fat-Gripz Bench: 3x165, 3x190, 6x210
Swiss bar bench: 165x16
100-200 pull-aparts
HER
Cycle 2; SVR Variant
Mobility
5x3 throws with 10lb med ball
Bench: 3x45, 3x50, 10x60 (huge PR)
Swiss bar bench: 20x45
DB rows between all sets of bench
4-14-16
ME
Cycle 1; 5s pro
3 second paused front squats:
5x135, 5x155, 5x175, 5x195 (joker), 5x215 (more jokes), 3x5x135
Axle deficit semi-sumo stiff-legged deadlifts (long name)
10x135, 3x8x185
Axle hang clean: 5x3-5x135
notes
Well fuck. Outside is closed to lay turf; no access to stones. I’m thankful though that I’ve already had my hands on them l, so I can plan my gym lifts a lot better for carryover. Should be a month. Glad it’s now though instead of the month of competition.
Who comes up with this stuff? 
And actually why this exercise?