Axles seem like they’re getting less …axlely? Diameters are getting smaller, knurling is getting added, etc. I think it’s part of a program to just set more and more “world records” on strongman lifts, which is just stupid.
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I hate the rogue axle for that reason, it’s like…less than 2 inches. Like…why?
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Tuesday, 15 January
Back down to 223.2 today. Have reduced calories down a bit since I’m not Monolithing, so I expect to see some drop-off. Still eating 6 eggs and about 1lb of beef a day, but that’s just my regular intake.
Workout
Warmup
200 pullaparts
100 dislocates
Glute drills
Agile 8
Metcon/Dynamic Warmup
Tabata: KB swings/Airdyne (2 rounds w/1m rest, so 9m total)
Main Giant Set
5x 24" box jumps
8x deadlifts
10x weighted situps
Deadlifts:
8x120kg
8x130kg
8x140kg (PR)
8x120kg
Sort of regret not going for 8x145 but not sure I’d have had it today. Still a solid PR over my previous best 140 pull which I think was 5-6 reps.
Secondary Giant Set
15-20 lat pulldowns
3-5x front squats
12-20 reverse hyper (@T3hPwnisher any tips for getting the most bang for my buck out of this now that I have access? I know you love yours as much as you love your wife.)
Front squats:
5x50kg
5x60kg
3x65kg
3x70kg
Strongman
Farmer’s Walks (light, speed):
5x 25m w/drop and turn, 45kg each hand
This was probably too light, but I think the speed was decent at around 20s per run. Some proper strongmen will tell me that’s shit now but I’m OK with it for my second time ever doing the movement.
3 Likes
No real hot tips on the reverse hyper. I stick with 3-4 sets of 8-12 reps typically.
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Thursday, January 17
Down to 222.4 today.
Returned to my old nearby gym, as the Crossfit place is only open from noon today.
I think I’ll try and do an earlier start/finish at work on Thursdays so that I’m able to go there for an early afternoon session going forward, though. It’s just so much better and gives me a ton more options.
Today, squats were disappointing and bench was average, which is weird as it’s usually the other way around.
Workout
Warmup
200 pullaparts
100 dislocates
Glute drills
Flexible Five
Main Giant Set
8x KB swings
8x squats
12x standing crunches
Squats:
8x70kg
8x80kg
8x90kg
8x100kg
Original plan if the stars aligned was to do 70, 85, 100 and then go for an 8-rep PR at 107.5/110. The stars did not align, though, and these all felt like death.
Secondary Giant Set
12x lat pulldowns
8x bench press
8x cable windmills
Bench:
8x55kg
8x60kg
8x65kg
8x65kg
Sin é. Not the best day, but I had back-to-back PR days on Mon/Tue so I can’t complain.
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Saturday, 19 January
Weighed in at 223 on the nose after a cheaty Kit-Kat last night.
Training
Warmup
None
Strongman
Car push approx 20m (six rounds)
Didn’t have time for much this morning as I need to catch a flight.
This was tough but not bad for the first time doing it and a lot easier than I thought it might be. A 1.4l Astra H with half a tank and a full woman inside is like half the weight of a Land Rover but I’ll have her feather the brake a little next time.
Just got back from Sheffield where I went to watch Britain’s Strongest Man as a Christmas present to my dad and brother (and myself a bit).
Tom Stoltman’s 18s stone run was absolutely unearthly, and Mark Felix hitting 11x 320kg axle deads at 52 was pretty awesome to see as well.
Great fun all in all.
Monday, 21 January
Up to 225.8 after a fairly high-carb weekend. Calorie-wise it was pretty normal, despite an evening of 6-7 pints, so I expect to drop back down.
Those pints did take a little bit of a toll on today’s training, though on the plus side as I’ve never really done clean & presses before every set was a PR!
Workout
Warmup
Flexible Five
200 pullaparts
100 dislocates
Conditioning
EMOM for 10m: 3x “stone” over bar (45kg)
It was actually a super big medicine ball, so it was a stone in shape but a sandbag in feel. Anyway I didn’t shatter my leg like Phil Roberts so all good.
Main Giant Set
5x chinups
5x clean & press
8x GHR halos
Clean & press:
5x30kg
5x40kg
5x45kg
5x50kg
5x50kg
This was pretty tough, but I think mostly down to having absolutely zero clean technique. Something I’ll be practicing a couple of times a week.
Assistance Giant Set
12x T-bar row @ 30/35/40kg
12/10/7x DB press @ 15/20/25kg
10x Russian twists
Strongman
EMOM axle continental clean triples @ 30-50kg
3 Likes
Tuesday, 22 January
Back down to a cool 222.2.
Wanted to hit 155 or 160 for five reps on deadlifts today for a rep PR or a huge PR, but it wasn’t happening as the fifth rep of 150 was RPE999. Eked out some decent results nevertheless.
Workoout
Warmup
200 pullaparts
100 dislocates
Flexible Five
Glute drills
Main Giant Set
8x KB swings w/24kg
5x deadlifts
20x cable crunch
Deadlifts:
5x120kg
5x130kg (no straps, so a no-strap PR)
5x140kg (strapped up)
5x150kg (joint rep PR at this weight)
5x140kg
Assistance Giant Set
12x lat pulldowns @ 60/75/90kg
8x SSB squats @ 50/60/70kg
12x reverse hypers @ 20kg
I’ll be honest, I only did this to play around with the SSB. Went too low on the first two sets which really aggravated my knee; I did some air squats/lunges after to try and force out the pain and it did a weird poppy-twangy thing and felt OK after.
If I squat ATG it hurts a little coming back up now, but I just took the stairs to the office 2-3 at a time to see how it felt and it was OK.
Strongman
Farmer’s Walks as fast as possible, done with around 60-90s rest:
15kg each hand, 25m w/drop and turn
45kg each hand, 25m w/drop and turn
55kg each hand, 25m w/drop and turn
60kg each hand, 25m w/drop and too-long pause and turn
65kg each hand, 25m w/drop and prayer and moment to reconsider all my life choices and turn.
This last pair was horribly hard. Once I got moving the actual weight was fine and footspeed was alright as well, but my hands were absolutely screaming. I have tiny little girl hands which doesn’t help this movement.
So what did ya think about the SSB?
Good luck with the knee mine did something similar a week or so back. It’s good but still “off”.
Felt pretty good, but I didn’t go particularly heavy with it to get the full effects. I’m not really experienced/strong enough to get the best use out of it, but it is a pretty fun new way to squat. Insomuch as squatting can be fun…
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Wednesday, 23 January
Down to 220.8 today according to the scale in the hotel room.
Decided to forgo 30-45m of active recovery in favour of some inactive recovery and slept in until a decadent 7.45.
Booked a day pass at a nearby gym and packed my Romaleos and belt for squats tomorrow.
Thursday, 24 January
222.3 on the hotel room scale today.
Bad sleep, bad workout, bad gym. Had a squat rack and a bench though which was all I really needed as I hadn’t much time for anything but a bare bones workout.
Workout
Warmup
Flexible Five
Glute drills
200 pullaparts
100 dislocates
Squats
8x20kg
5x40kg
3x60kg
3x70kg
5x80kg
5x90kg
5x100kg
4x105kg
Fourth rep was pretty broken so I decided to pass on a fifth, which I now regret.
Bench
5x20kg
5x40kg
5x60kg
5x62.5kg
5x65kg
New bench, felt weird. Struggled to unrack the top sets.
Machine Row
3x10x65kg
Flying home today and normalcy can resume. Glad I spent the tenner on that gym pass to get some squats in though, even if it wasn’t exactly a PB session.
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Saturday, 26 January
No weigh-in today. Did some hard events training then had half a pizza then a nap then the other half. Ideal morning.
Training
Warmup
Flexible Five
200 pullaparts
100 dislocates
Bottom up KB press waiter walks
Funfair Dumbbell
A regular bell with Fat Gripz. Worked up a rep each hand.
1x each 20kg
1x each 25kg
1x each 27.5kg
1x each 30kg
1x right 30kg (left wasn’t happening)
Bit worried about how not strong this was but hopefully some technique work can help.
Carry Medley
Used medicine balls for a 15m carry and loaded onto a table. Table almost broke…
40kg then 50kg then 60kg (3 rounds approx 30-35s each)
Absolutely murdered my forearms and lower back.
Sled Drag
No idea of weight or length. A few rounds to finish.
Monday, 28 January
Up to 223.4 today. Slept badly but otherwise felt alright.
Weight is roughly the same as it has been for the past week or two, but strength is either the same or higher (depending on the lift and day) and my waistline is down about an inch so feeling pretty happy with 2019 so far.
Workout
Warmup
200 pullaparts
100 dislocates
Agile 8
Conditioning
10/8/6/4/2 ring inverted rows/incline pressups/situps/box jumps
Main Giant Set
5x chinups
5x clean & press
8x GHR halos
Clean & press:
5x40kg
5x45kg
5x47.5kg
5x50kg
5x52.5kg (PR)
Cleans are still trash but improving. Some nice push presses crept in here where the leg drive was more than just cosmetic and it felt like RPE2. Mostly not that, though…
Assistance Giant Set
Three rounds:
12x lat pulldowns @ 90kg
10x DB press @ 20kg
10x Russian twist w/10kg plate
Strongman
Axle continental cleans
Kept these super light to try and get some technique work. What’s happening with lighter reps is that I’ll sort of hip extend the bar up and throw my hand underneath to catch it, which is fine at 40kg but would probably be pretty bad at heavier weights. Was sure to do a proper continental each rep here.
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I’m familiar with this feeling/during after farmers walks. They are great, aren’t they?
Are you using actual farmers walk handles for these (or Dbs/trap bar/etc)?
Actual handles. They’re 15kg unloaded with the plates facing upwards so at least they don’t roll about after the drop.
You just reminded me I have to do them again tomorrow. Ugh. Probably going to go even heavier as well.
Oh, that’s awesome. I’ve looked at upgrading mine to a pair like this (or alternatively, building another pair that loads from the top). No rolling, easier to load/unload, they don’t scuff your plates when dropping/skidding them, etc.
Good luck tomorrow!
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Tuesday, 29 January
Woke up at 222.0 on the nose. Hips absolutely fried after today.
Workout
Warmup
200 pullaparts
100 dislocates
Agile 8 (done this a few times, still don’t see the point of foam rolling)
Glute drills
Conditioning
EMOM: 2x 50kg load over bar
Main Giant Set
8x 24kg KB swings
5x deadlifts
20x standing cable crunches
Deadlifts:
5x130
5x140
5x150
4-5x155 (so rest-paused that I almost don’t want to count this as a proper set but whatever a PR is a PR)
5x140
Assistance Giant Set
Two rounds:
8x SSB walking lunges each leg
12x reverse hyper
30s side plank each side
Strongman
Farmer’s Walks:
45kg for ~25m w/drop and turn
55kg for ~25m w/drop and turn
65kg for ~25m w/drop and turn
70kg for ~12m w/drop and sense of resignation (weight PR at least)
@littlesleeper as predicted these were no fun.
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I love farmers! Definitely my favourite event besides stones. I really enjoy keg/zercher/sandbag carries too. I dont like yoke that much though.
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