Rebirth of the Juggernaut: Brute Force and Ignorance (Part 1)

AM WORKOUT

Axle Bench Press
5xAxle
5x66
5x136
5x186
5x226
5x241
3x276
8x306
15x241

Notes: Much better performance than I anticipated. 7 was the goal on the topset, and 12 on the FSL. I’m in a weird place in my training where I feel dead and exhausted all the time but my performance is still doing well. Not really sure how to interpret it.

Chins
1x25 overhand
1x23 underhand
2x20 various neutral grips
1x25 all grips

DB laterals/rear laterals 25
5x11

Notes: Performed between sets of bench.

GIANT SETS

Log clean and push press (clean once) 160
1x7
2x6
1x5

DB rows 105
3x10
1x15

DB hammer curls
10x30
10x35
10x40
10x45

Notes: Ran short on time again. Seems to be happening as weight gets heavier. Totally floored by the end of this.

General notes: Woke up at 197.6. Weight is holding high. Joints are beat up from shoveling snow.

Good point, although I suspect that picking up a yoke is slightly biomechanically different from an Anderson squat from full depth in the same way a rack pull from above the knee is different from the top part of a deadlift from the floor. You set up differently and move the weight differently.

And yes I’m a big fan of kettlebell swings too. The heaviest one my gym has is 20kg, which is starting to feel too easy, so I think I might branch into doing them one handed. That ought to keep me challenged for a while.

Thanks for the info dude

The technique is different, but the knee stress is very similar, especially since I ROM progressed the squat. That’s more what I’m keying in on at this point.

For KB swings, I only have a 45lb one, so something I’d do was like a DE approach, just swinging the bell as fast as I could. I’d do this for triples between sets of everything else.

Thanks for the questions dude. Always happy to help.

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EMOM 182lb keg to chest for triples
10 minutes

Notes: This was originally going to be sandbag shouldering, but my sandbag burst on the third minute. Need to make another one. This was still a killer workout though.

Woke up at 197.2. Going to do my deadlift workout tomorrow, because I got called in for work on Saturday.

(6) Mat Pulls
5x136
5x226
1x276
1x366 (mixed grip)
1x456 (mixed grip)
13x576 (straps, rest pause, touch and go)
10x486 (straps, deadstop)
42 second DOH hold 276

Notes: PM workout, since I’m working tomorrow and didn’t want to try to squeeze in this workout in the morning. Allowed me to really go for broke on these topsets. The backoff set was lightning fast as well.

GHR sit ups w/25lb plate behind head
4x8

Buffalo Bar Squat
5xBar
5x100
5x140
3x190
1x230
1x280
1x320
1x370

REST PAUSE (15 Deep breaths between sets)
10x410
4x410
2x410
2x410
8x370
4x370
2x370
1x370

Notes: This was brutal. The topset of 10 didn’t feel awful, but it clearly drained me through out, as I was having difficulty hitting the rest. Might be time to step up to 460 next.

General Notes: Woke up at 194.8 this morning. Gonna spend the night at the jobsite tomorrow, so trying to pack enough food. I never really sleep well here, so I’ll be watching my recovery.

Are you still going for that 800(or was it 900)lbs deadlift?

800 has been the goal for a long time. Still chasing it. Deads are really in a good place right now, and I think the axle is forcing me to get strong rather than just good.

I have a metal jack deadlifter in the closet right now. I’m not opposed to throwing it on when the time is right to really see what I can do, but right now it’s not what I need.

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Axle Strict Press
5xAxle
5x66
5x136
5x166
3x186
6x206
5x206 (push press)
8x166

Notes: Evening workout. Had to rush. Basically circuited between the pulldowns, presses and pull aparts the whole way up. 6 reps of 206 felt light, but I fell out of the groove and had nothing left for the 7th.

GB pulldowns 140
3x12
2x10

Band pull aparts
5x20

Notes: Performed between presses

Circuit

Axle rows 136
3x25

Dips
3x25

Notes: 3 rounds, no stop between. From one to the other and back again. Just trying to quickly get in my assistance work.

Axle curls
1x50

General notes: Woke up at 197.2. Serious GI issues today. Not sure if I’m sick or just ate something off.

Do you have experience with powerlifting gear? How often/ when do you generally use something like that?

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VERY limited experience. I’ve worn an Inzer champion suit twice and I’ve played around with a metal jack deadlifter like 3 times. Never worked to any serious weights in them; just wanted to get a feel for the equipment. Not something I use often at all, but since it’s legal in strongman, I want to be a little familiar with it.


AM WORKOUT

SSB Squat
5xBar+chains
5x115+chains
5x155+chains
3x205+chains
1x245+chains
1x295+chains
1x335+chains
1x385+chains
5x425+chains (lifetime PR)
5x335+chains

Notes: Things have just been feeling good with this training day. Really seeing some growth.

GHR
4x12

Standing ab wheel
4x8

Notes: Performed between sets of squats

Viking squats 155
1x15

Reverse hyper 50lbs
3 minutes 20 seconds

General notes: Woke up at 196.6. This was performed yesterday, then I stayed overnight at the jobsite, so I’m logging it now. Rest of this month should have a little more stable schedule. Have an inkling of competition lifts coming up, but nothing official yet.

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Axle bench press
5xAxle
5x66
5x136
5x186
5x211
5x246
13x281
20x210

Notes: Was hoping for 15 on that topset, but 20 on the backoff made up for it.

DB rows 105
4x10

DB laterals/rear laterals 25
5x10/10

Notes: Performed between sets of benching

GIANT SETS

Log clean and press (clean once) 160
3x7
1x6
1x5

Weighted NG chins 75lbs
1x5
1x6
1x7
1x6
1x5

DB hammer curls 35
5x10

Notes: Log still feels awful, but I’m getting better at it.

Kroc rows 105
1x11

General notes: Woke up at 195.0. Schedule was screwy this week, most of the training in the evening and had to skip a day here or there.

Next contest events have been announced. Going to be doing the Empire Classic Strongman competition in Spokanne WA. Will be competing at my usual 200lbs. Here are events and weights.

Frame deadlift: 450lbs (60 seconds, straps and suit allowed)

Press Medley: 180lb keg, 200lb log, 231lb axle, 125lb dumbbell (60 seconds, dumbbell for reps at end)

Stone of steel over bar: 250lbs (60 seconds, 52" bar)

Power Stairs: 240lbs, 300lbs, 350lbs (60 seconds, 3 implements up 3 sets of stairs)

Crucifix hold: Whatevs (2 hammers)

This will have some challenges in it, but I’m excited to get my training in gear. This was a good off season, now to make the most of it.

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NICE! That’s an old favorite event of mine from my younger days watching WSM contests, but I honestly haven’t seen it in many of the Strongman contest videos I’ve been watching lately. Not sure why; could be that in higher-level contests they want more spectacular-looking stuff like the “plane pull” and monstrous deadlifts, with Atlas Stones always there as a traditional event, while Power Stairs are a little lower on the “wow” factor…

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One would never know you’ve had knee surgery. Great work.

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How did you like it? I always wonder about how it feels to lift in gear. Have you any experience with squat gear? I like to squat in wraps and am curious about trying briefs or a single ply suit. Unfortunately I don’t know anyone who owns a suit my size.

Also: Great news about the competition! As always I will be watching very closely how you prep. Always a lot to learn for me! Best of luck, mate!

Stone of steel looks like a bitch. I’m guessing no tacky aloud?

What’s the date of this comp?

How is your training going to change going into it?

@ActivitiesGuy I’m pretty excited about powerstairs. I think WSM had one back in '13 or so, but it doesn’t make a lot of appearances. In general this event plays a lot to my strength as it’s pretty much all static stuff. Training for it will be easier while I’m snowed in.

I imagine the limitation for the event is just how equipment intensive it is. You need a platform and special implements, which makes set-up suck.

@biker Thanks dude! I’m back to the point where I’m as strong if not stronger than I was before the injury.

@Koestrizer The Inzer champion is a squat suit. It’s single ply, and pretty much bottom of the barrel. In general, I appreciate how gear works, but the multiply stuff feels completely miserable and it takes so long to get into a proper fitting piece of gear that it makes training sessions take too long for me to be logistically viable. You hear about the 3 hour powerlifting sessions multi-ply gear folks have, and it sounds super awesome, but I’m just not willing to set aside that kind of time for training.

That being said, simply wearing the gear and hitting some warm-ups completely changed my perspective of lifting gear. You definitely don’t just throw on a suit and add 300lbs to your maxes. Lifting in gear SUCKS. You feel like you’re going to explode the whole time and the gear keeps trying to throw you out of the groove. Massive respect to guys that are out there putting up insane poundages in multi and single-ply gear.

And thanks for following along! Feel free to ask any questions about my prep.

@strongmanvinny2 Yup; no tacky. This will be a first time experience for me. If I like to SOS, I might end up saving my pennies and buying one. It seems pretty ideal for a garage gym user.

@littlesleeper Comp will be on 22 Apr. I’ll need to make some modifications (which I’ll detail later), but thankfully my core structure is sound enough that it won’t require a lot of tweaks.


AM WORKOUT

(5) Axle Mat Pulls
5x136
5x226
1x276
1x366 (mixed grip)
1x456 (mixed grip)
10x576 (straps, touch and go, rest pause)
10x486 (straps, deadstop)
43 second DOH hold of 276

Notes: Strength remains consistent on this, even on days when I feel awful. That set of 486 was rough.

GHR sit up w/25lb plate behind head
3x8
1x6

Buffalo Bar Squat
5xBar
5x100
5x140
3x190
1x230
1x280
1x320
1x370
1x410

REST PAUSE (15 Deep Breaths Between Reps)
4x460
2x460
1x460
8x370
2x3x370
1x370

Notes: Massive victory here. My all time best before surgery was 3x460 for this sort of workout. Hitting it for 4 on the topset was awesome. Took a lot out of me, and wasn’t able to hit as much in the backoff sets as I’d liked, but the system is working. Walkout is the hardest part for me; probably part of not hitting the Anderson squats like I used to.

General notes: Woke up at 195.8. Had my cheat meal last night; Taco Bell, cheesy gordiata crunch, naked chicken chalupa, chicken quesadilla and half a nachos bell grande. The naked chicken chalupa tore up my insides something fierce.

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Some thoughts on moving forward training for the contest

-Conditioning is pretty much a non-factor, along with footspeed. It’s probably not good for me to neglect those things for so long, but I’m going to be smart and prioritize the things I need to prioritize. My conditioning workout is going to alternate between sandbag loads over bar/stone trainer work and power stair simulators. Can play around with EMOM and tabata and stuff, but the key will be to focus on these movements. Once I’m about a month out from the show, I’ll go from alternating each week to training each event once a week. That will mean cutting out the run day, which is really twisting my arm.

-Dumbbell press is my weakest element here, especially with it being AMRAP at the end of the medley. I’m going to rebuild my ghetto bell for now and see if that does the trick. Right now I’ll be starting with just some regular dumbbells to build up some strength and stability, then do some circus stuff for technique once that improves. Plan is to use this during my bench assistance work rather than on my press day. I’m thinking I’ll alternate log and keg each week and always chase it with DB work (so DB every week, log and keg every other week. This means 2 pressing exercises for assistance). For my axle work, I’m gonna bring the continental back for my push press set and back off sets, just to get the movement pattern back. 231 is super light.

-Frame deadlifts: even though suit is allowed, I don’t think I’m gonna break it out. At 450lbs, I think I’m gonna run out of time before I run out of strength.

-Crucifix hold: I’m gonna trim out the lateral raises on bench day and just end the day with crucifix dumbbell holds. I have enough faith in my pain tolerance to win this event; just gotta keep the elbows locked.

One other off-the-wall question:

I believe at some point earlier in your recovery, you were using your Rolling Thunder handle a good bit. While I have been fortunate enough to stumble into a fantastic training situation for the moment - access to a great facility at no cost - I’m always thinking about what stuff will be useful in someday outfitting a garage gym (wife and I are probably about 2 years from buying a house, at which time >90% of my training will be done at home). I’ll get a decent bar and a few plates from my dad, and I’ve got my kettlebells, and I think maybe a sandbag or keg will be in the mix as well, but was wondering about your thoughts on the RT. Seems like an effective piece of equipment that takes up very little additional space and only requires having some plates to load the thing.

(Full disclosure, this curiosity is at partially influenced by recently watching the Rogue Fitness documentary Stoneland and being fascinated by the possible utility of the RT as a means of simulating the Dinnie Stones).