Do it, compete in my weight class so I can smoke you in nationals at some point in the future.
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Lol it’ll be a long time before I bulk to 220… Bulking to 198 comes first.
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Hey man, dont know if you posted it anywhere else, but how did nationals go?
I guess I should update this, lol.
I took 7th overall in the LW class, out of 38 competitors I believe. Really strong finish for me.
So if you guys read the posts above, you’ll see what I wrote about the last time I pulled a truck. This time, it was a very different story. The little guy who outpulled me at that last comp was also at nationals. He did not complete the truck pull, he finished towards the bottom of the class. I CRUSHED this event, taking 2nd in it, with a time just 1.5 seconds off of 1st. Right around 45 seconds. I felt that redeemed me, lol.
The circus DB was rough. 8 guys zeroed, and I got 1 rep. So at least I got that. The winner got 9 or 10 reps, which was a couple higher than I expected to see, although it didn’t really make a difference as far as my own points were concerned.
The deadlift was too light, and I wasn’t trained for the rep fest that it became. I got 13 reps, and that wasn’t close to good enough. I just absolutely gassed out early. 12 of those reps came in the first 30 seconds. And then I had nothing left. 26 won the event. Oh well. No excuses, I’ll be prepared for anything next time.
The tire flip and sled drag was a learning experience. I actually got through it pretty quickly. But the guy who went 2 spots after me decided to grab the sled straps a couple feet down from the handles, and it made the event WAAAAAAAY easier. Everyone who went after him did the same, and all of those guys had better times. That was the key to the event, unfortunately. But I learned from it for next time.
Last event was stones. I got through the 275, 300, and 335 stones in about 35 seconds. Couldn’t quite lap the 360, but came damn close. only 1 guy out of the 40 in our class got all 4 stones, and he won overall as well.
Great experience overall. I’m gonna take it easy for about a month, but soon enough I’ll be pushing myself hard again, trying for a podium finish next year.
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Great work. I love reading your write ups.
Yer nice work Flip well done.
Nice work dude. Is the order of competitors predetermined going in?
Saw your instagram post earlier. Massive well done man!
Congrats on the top ten finish.
In regards to the sled drag, the physics is rather interesting. What you need to do is create more traction with your feet than the sled has friction. Even if your shoes are grippier than the sled’s bottom, the problem is that in any decent competition, the sled will outweigh you by quite a bit. This situation often leaves competitors trying to jerk the sled free and they just end up reapeatedly jerking it an inch at a time until time runs out. It doesn’t even really matter how strong you are. Strength on its own won’t help you generate more traction unless you have something to push against. If you were wearing a vest that weighed a couple hundred pounds, it might actually help you complete the event.
The trick to overcome this is pulling up (or pushing up if its a sled push) on the sled. By pulling the sled up, you reduce the friction that the sled experiences with the ground. Simultaneously, you push your feet into the ground, increasing your traction. By choking up on the sled pull handles, you make the angle of pull more vertical and less horizontal. Of course, this means that you will be supporting a significant portion of the sled’s weight throughout the drag, but it’s often the only way to finish the pull. Sled drags are really a half drag, half carry.
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yes.
so, most competitions I’ve done have ordered competitors based on how far in advance they sign up, to encourage people to sign up early. That’s what this was. Fortunately, I had the foresight to not sign up at the last minute, so I went 12th I think. Really, I was comfortable with anything but 1st.
Oftentimes, order will be changed based on either how the previous event went, or total points accumulated. So, if you win event 1, you get to go last in event 2.
At Nationals, there was no re-ordering, simply for logistics reasons. would have been too hard on the judges/scorers.
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yes. I figured I would have an advantage in this event simply because I had done such a big water cut to make weight, and on contest day, I would be heavier than the other guys. I didn’t realize just how many other guys would also be cutting 15+ lbs. So the advantage there was minimal.
again, yes. That was the biggest lesson I learned here. I didn’t even consider the idea of grabbing the straps lower, then why I saw it done, I was kicking myself.
saw this from a few guys. Fortunately I was able to keep the sled moving for the entire distance. I know how hard it is to overcome that static friction, particularly in a fatigued state. That’s also why the guys who let the truck stop on the truck pull couldn’t get it going again. Once the truck stopped, it was game over.
I’m going to keep logging here for a bit, but I may eventually switch back to my own original log. Or maybe the Mods could combine this with my original log? That would be awesome to have everything in 1 place.
Anyway, speaking of logs… I hit a 230 log strict press double this weekend. This isn’t something I try often, so it was definitely a PR. I did doubles starting at 170, adding 10 lbs each set, until failure. I failed at 240, so I did that double as a push press.
I also have some very big news. I found out yesterday morning that I have been invited to the 82.5 KG World Championship, based on my Nationals performance. From what I read, the field will be the top 10 finishers at Nationals, plus the top 3 performers at World’s last year. Not sure if there are any other qualifiers. But I have to say, I am beyond excited about this. I get to compete on the absolute biggest stage there is in Strongman for my weight class. There is no lightweight pro card, so this is basically the top of the mountain for lightweights.
The events are as follows: max log (3 attempts), 15" (wagon wheel) deadlift at 600 lbs for max reps, 315 per hand farmers carry (holy fuck that’s heavy!), Sandbag throw over 14’ bar (25,30, 35 and 40 lbs), and power stairs with approximately 300, 350, and 400 lbs.
My log holds up well, even against the strongest competitors out there. Only a few lightweights in the world are out-pressing me on this implement. If I can make just a little progress on this event over the next couple months, I could win it.
The deadlift is… heavy. But I can do it, I’ve done that weight for a double before. Hopefully I can get better.
The farmer’s carry will end up being my worst event by a mile. I can pick this up, but I will be taking very few steps with it. I’ll try it with contest weight next weekend to see exactly what I can do.
I don’t have ANY idea how the power stairs will be for me. I’m going to start looking for ways to train this asap.
The sandbag throw is not too different from the keg tosses I’ve done in the past. I’m good at keg tosses, and I’ll buy the Rogue sandbag to practice with.
The contest is September 22, in Ohio. I had wanted to take a break from Strongman, and training in general, this month, but this changes everything. It’s back to work for me. I will train harder than I ever have for these next 2 months. Opportunities like this don’t come around every day, or every year, and I may not get another one. So I’ll give this everything I have.
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World champion strongman comp. Holy shit man congrats
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All this excellence now in one thread? Not sure people can handle it. But we’ll try.
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Best of luck to you Flip!
No thanks.
Hell yeah dude, that’s awesome.
Congrats! That’s pretty awesome news indeed!
Great finish at nats, and congrats on the qualifying for worlds. That’s pretty crazy.
That means a lot coming from someone who’s far better at this sport than I am. Thank you!!
I’ll try to keep my log updated at least semi-regularly through the next couple months while I train for worlds. So, a few things of note.
- I think I fixed my deadlift. Deadlift was a really strong point for me for a long time, but recently it had kind of started to slip. Things didn’t feel right, I wasn’t feeling strong and tight, it just felt off. And my performance at Nationals reflected that. I had anticipated being a top finisher in that event, and while part of the problem was that it was a rep fest, I also wasn’t performing to my usual standards.
I have done 2 things to fix this. 1. I realized my starting bar position had gotten way too far in front of me, so I’ve brought it back to my shins. That’s kind of a deadlift 101 thing, keeping the bar close, but hey. We all make mistakes, amirite? 2. I brought my stance close again. For most of my lifting career, I’ve kept my stance fairly narrow, but in the last year I’d widened it. I’ve learned at this point it just doesn’t work for me, and I’ve brought it back in. It feels much better now. I hit 565 for a double last weekend, followed by 515 for a pretty easy set of 6.
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Log press is still inching up. I kinda hit 280. I locked it, and my feet were together and everything, but I didn’t hold it for long. A quick judge wouldve given me the down command, a hardass would not have. But I’m fine with that. I’m confident that by the time I get to the contest, 280 will be solid, with the potential for a bit more. I’m hitting the log press 1-2 times a week, the way I did with circus DB.
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I bought a couple things. I bought the same sandbag the contest is using for throwing practice, and the same handle for the power stairs. They will arrive from Rogue in a couple days.
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… I haven’t even tried to pick 315 per hand yet. I’ll try it this week.
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