Strongman, Bench Only Competition, and Beyond

I wanted to start a new log (yes another), because I feel like my other log was a cluttered mess and I want a clear cut beginning to this one so I can look back and see what worked and what didn’t in the upcoming months.

Here are some videos from my first strongman show on august 11th, I was in the 175 class.

Viking Press @ 200 lbs

Tire Dead @ 650 tire and 200 aparratus?

240 Hussafel Stone Carry

Keg Toss @ 12ft Bar Height

Stone Over Bar @ 220 lb Stone

I know I could’ve done so much better if I was actually able to practice the event lifts and get used to them and their technique, everything was very much so “Learn as I go”

Right now I am running a variation of sheiko to build up a better base for size and strength before I switch to bench specialist type set up for the Bench only meet on March 9.

First time training arms in 2 months…

A. Reverse curls - 5 x 10 with 10 sec rest between sets

B. Lying plate extensions - same set up as A

C. Ez bar curls - 3 x 12 (6 reps hard squeeze, 6 reps just kept moving) w/ 60 lbs

D. Lying extensions - 4 x 8 w/ 60 lbs (3 sec negative)

E. Concentration curla - 10 lbs x 40
F. Lying extensions - 10 lbs x 35

Monday - Bench, Squat, Bench

A. Bench
Bar x 10
95 x 5
135 x 5
2 x 4 w/ 165
2 x 3 w/ 185
5 x 3 w/ 205
(Paused all final reps)

B. Squats
Bar x 5
95 x 5
135 x 3
Added briefs
185 x 5
215 x 5
225 x 5
5 x 5 w/ 245

C. Bench
115 x 5
145 x 5
4 x 4 w/ 185

D. Incline bench
3 x 6 w/ 135
3 x 3 w/ 145

E. Hyper deads
3 x 6 w/ bar
3 x 3 w/ 95
Bw x 20

Everything felt heavy as F@$& this session, i trained way too early on a bench with racks waaaaay to low. I had to adjust the percentages but…well…atleast the squats felt good…

Monday - Bench, Squat, Bench

A. Bench
Bar x 10
95 x 5
135 x 5
2 x 4 w/ 165
2 x 3 w/ 185
5 x 3 w/ 205
(Paused all final reps)

B. Squats
Bar x 5
95 x 5
135 x 3
Added briefs
185 x 5
215 x 5
225 x 5
5 x 5 w/ 245

C. Bench
115 x 5
145 x 5
4 x 4 w/ 185

D. Incline bench
3 x 6 w/ 135
3 x 3 w/ 145

E. Hyper deads
3 x 6 w/ bar
3 x 3 w/ 95
Bw x 20

Everything felt heavy as F@$& this session, i trained way too early on a bench with racks waaaaay to low. I had to adjust the percentages but…well…atleast the squats felt good…

Tuesday - Extra. Workout/ Recovery work
A. Vertical jumps - 3 x 1

B. Push ups ladder x 90 reps (flat push ups x max, move up one step x max, move up x max , move
up x max, once more x max)

C. Chin ups - 4 x 10

D. Band face pulls - 3 x 20

E1. Band pushdowns - 2 x 20
E2. Band curls - 2 x 20

F. Band side bend pushdowns - 2 x 20

Tuesday - Extra. Workout/ Recovery work
A. Vertical jumps - 3 x 1

B. Push ups ladder x 90 reps (flat push ups x max, move up one step x max, move up x max , move
up x max, once more x max)

C. Chin ups - 4 x 10

D. Band face pulls - 3 x 20

E1. Band pushdowns - 2 x 20
E2. Band curls - 2 x 20

F. Band side bend pushdowns - 2 x 20

Wednesday - Deads, Bench Accessories, Deads
A. Sumo Pin Pulls (plates were about an inch off the ground)
135 x 3
185 x 3
225 x 1
put on briefs
225 x 3
275 x 1
315 x 1
365 x 1
405 x 1
455 x 1 (20 lb PR)
2 x 1 with 315

B. High Incline Bench
3 x 6 with 110
3 x 3 with 130

C. Floor Press
3 x 6 with 155
3 x 3 with 185

D. Mat Pulls
Briefs On
225 x 4
255 x 4
2 x 4 with 285
4 x 3 with 315

E. Belt Squats w/ 3 sec negative
(excluding Bar)
25 lbs x 8
50 lbs x 8
75 lbs x 8
100 lbs x 8
Dropset: 125 x 7, 110 x 3, 75 x 3, 50 x 5, 25 x 9

Decent overall training session tonight, I hit about a 20 lb PR on the pin pulls today which I am pretty ok with considering I didn’t think my strength would’ve been all that great on the lift. I changed up the sheiko program a bit in that I decided to pull for a max from pins so I could really work on my weakness off the floor and have an accurate number to base the training percentages off of.

Kept the pressing to a moderate weight to get a training effect from it rather than just ego lift.

Belt squats at the end to smoke my quads…they worked perfectly…

Friday - Bench, “Squats”
A. Close-Grip Bench
All final reps paused from here on out
Bar x 5
95 x 5
135 x 5
165 x 5
2 x 4 w/ 195
2 x 3 w/ 205
225 x 2
all reps paused from here on out
225 x 2
2 x 3 w/ 205
feet out front and all reps paused from here on
195 x 4
165 x 6
135 x 8

B. Bar Dips
Bw single band x 8
Bw 2 bands x 6 for 2 sets
Bw x 12

C. Reverse Band Squats
55 x 5
135 x 5
put on briefs
185 x 5
225 x 4
stopped, lower back just hurt too bad to continue

D. Goodmornings
kept briefs on
4 x 8 with 135

E. Hanging Leg Raises x 60 reps in 6 sets
F. Single Leg Reverse Hypers against chains - 3 x 8

Well shitty workout today. I Knew my back wasn’t feeling too solid from the the beginning on, and while I hit what I need to on the bench, my lower back just didnt hold up for the squats so I stopped and just did the light accessory work.

Hopefully tomorrow will be better…

Bonus Training Day - Saturday - Squats, Presses, Pulls
A. Reverse Band Squats, box height at parallel
Bar x 5
95 x 5
Added blue reverse Bands
135 x 5
185 x 5
put on ace briefs
235 x 5
2 x 5 with 275
2 x 5 with 305

B. Military Press
Bar x 6
75 x 6
95 x 6
2 x 6 with 105
3 x 6 with 95

C. Lateral Raises - 10 lbs x 25, 20, 15, 10

D. Chain Suspended Rack Pulls from just below knee
135 x 3
200 x 3
250 x 3
290 x 3
340 x 3
380 x 3
430 x 2,
430 x 1 (rack broke before i could get the second rep… -_______-)

E. Very Close stance, Heels elevated Front Squats - 3 x 10 controlled tempo, no lockout
F. Split Squats - 2 x 10 w/ 25 lbs, 1 x 15 5 step ups at bodyweight
G. Dead Man Squats x 12

Today was an extra squat day and I had alot of fun with it. My back still felt like shit but I was able to work through it better today. My saturday workouts are suppose to be another pulling type day but I decided that since I have switched to sumo pulling (for the time being atleast), that squat variations will do the most for it.

So I feel like I’ll be rotating exercises in at out such as…
Sat Exercises:
Cycle 1:
Reverse Band Squats - 3 weeks
Yoke Bar Squats - 1

Cycle 2:
Reverse Band Pulls in Full Gear - Either 1 Week pulls, than 2 weeks cambered bar goomornings from straps, light reverse band squats 1 week
or
Pulls 3 weeks, Light Reverse Band Squats 1 weeks

Cycle 3:
Squats against Bands - 3 weeks
DE Squats - 1 Week

Cycle 4 Peak
Free Squats - 2 weeks
peak 2 weeks

Mock Meet

And my weekly split would either be…

Monday - ME Lower Body
Tuesday - OFF
Wednesday - Sheiko Squats, Bench, Squats
Thursday - Deads, Bench, Deads
Friday - Back Work (for neglected lats)
Saturday - Squats, Bench, Squats
Sunday - Arms (mostly just biceps)

OR

Monday - Squats, Bench, Squats
Tuesday - Back
Wednesday - Deads, Bench, Deads
Thursday - OFF
Friday - Squats, Bench, Squats
Saturday - ME Lower
Sunday - Arms

ORrRrR

Monday - ME Lower
Tuesday - OFF
Wednesday - Squats, Bench, Squats
Thursday - Back
Friday Squats, Bench, Squats
Saturday - Deads, Bench, Deads
Sunday - Arms

Right now I think option A seems the smartest and easiest to recover from.

Training from last night, video may be green at first, just click the load bar a few times…

Yesterday - Squats, Press
A. Reverse Band Squats (0 off at top, 6-80 off at bottom)
135 x 3
185 x 3
put on briefs
235 x 3
275 x 3
2 x 3 w/ 305
4 x 3 w/ 335

B. Speed Pulls standing on 2 mats against monster mini pro short bands - 10 x 1 w/ 155

C. Close-Grip High Incline Press
Bar x 3
95 x 3
135 x 1
155 x 1
175 x 1
5 x 3 with 145 (all paused)

D. Tate Presses - 3 x 10 w/ 25s
E. Seated Band Goodmornings - 2 x 20 w/ bar and light bands

Wednesday - ME Upper and Realization
A. Reverse Band Bench (Green Bands)
135 x 5
195 x 5
215 x 5
5 x 5 w/ 255

B. Incline Press - 115 x 12, 125 x 10, 3 x 8 w/ 115
C. DB Bench, 3 x 8 w/ 75, 65 x 8, 55 x 10, 45 x 12 (feet up)

D. Light Reverse Band JM Press - 6 sets of 8 w/ 95 lbs

E. YTW Raises - 4 x 8-8-8 w/ 5-10 lbs

I realized sheiko isnt for me at this time period because I understand that it is a primarily a strength builder and right now what I desperately need is to regain the size I lost and build even more. I saw myself trying to modify sheiko too much and decided itd be a much better idea to stick to a more basic, less demanding template so I can focus on gaining size.

Thursday - DE Legs
A. Box Jumps - Worked up to a mod box for 4 x 2

B. Yoke Bar Squats
12 x 2 w/ 165 (briefs on)

C. Dimel Deads
135 x 25, 20, 15 (briefs)

D. Cambered Bar Squats against 80 lbs of chains
120 x 6
2 x 6 w/ 160
120 x 6
took chains off
2 x 15 w/ bar

PM
A. DB Romanian Deads
45s x 20, 15, 12

B. Yoke Bar w/ Spider Handles Squats
Worked up to 6 x 6 w/ 135 (3 sec neg)
*added reverse Bands
Worked up to 175 for 10
Than did a drop set:
175 x 10, 135 x 10, 105 x 10

C. Walking Lunges w/ 1 chain around neck - 2 x 10 R, 10 L, 10 R, 10 L

Monday - ME Squat
A. Cambered Bar Low box Squats
Bar x 5
120 x 3
160 x 3
180 x 3
180 w/ 1 chain x 3
180 w/ 2 chains x 3
200 w/ 2 chains x 3
210 w/ 2 chains x 3
230 w/ 2 chains x 3 PR
2 x 5 w/ 180

B. Zercher Squats
95 x 12
105 x 10,
115 x 8
4 x 6 w/ 125

C. Walking Lunges
10 R/10 L/10 R/10 L = 1 set
Repeated 3 times

Tuesday - ME Bench
A. Narrow-Grip High Incline Press
2 x 6 w/ Bar
2 x 6 w/ 95
135 x 5
145 x 5
155 x 5
165 x 5 ← 10 lb PR?
185 x 1, just missing a double, got greedy…
155 x 5
3 x 5 w/ 145 (held the reps at the top for a 1 count)
105 x 18

B. DB Extensions
25 x 8
30 x 8
35 x 8
40 x 8, 7

C. Bradford Press
65 x 12
75 x 10
75 x 8
2 x 5 w/ 85
2 x 5 w/ 75

D1. Fat Bar Band Pushdowns - Short monster minis x 25, 20, 15
D2. Lateral Raises - 10s x 20, 15, 10

E. Chain Upright Rows - 3 x 12 w/ 35 lbs

Wednesday - Lower Body Accessory

A. Seated Leg Curls
45 x 20
55 x 15
65 x 12
75 x 8
Dropset: 65 x 10, 55 x 10, 45 x 10, 55 x 25 bottom partials

B. Hammer Strength Romanian Deads w/ lat bar through bottom handles, no lockout
140 in plates x 10
2 x 10 w/ 180
Mechanical drop: 140 x 10, 5 deadlifts

C. Banded Leg Press (doubled red bands)
Platform x 8
1 PPS x 8
2 PPS x 8
3 x 8 w/ 3PPS

D. Single Leg Lunges
10 x Right Leg, 10 x L, 10 x R, 10 x L, 10 x R, 10 x L = 1 set
3 sets w/ 15 lbs/bodyweight by the end of each set

E. Leg Extensions
90 x 15
Dropset: 120 x 15, 60 x 15, rest 10 sec, 10 reps, rest 10, 5 bottom partials

Brutal brutal session. Nothing else but leg growth can happen from this one…

Thursday - Military Press and Accessories
A. Medicine Ball Push Press - 4 x 2 w/ 10 lbs

B. Military Press
2 x 10 w/ Bar
2 x 6 w/ 65
85 x 5
2 x 5w/ 105
115 x 11, 115 x 12

C. Close-Grip Bench Press
135 x 10
155 x 10
175 x 10
135 x 11

D. Seated DB Press
2 x 10 w/ 35
3 x 10 w/ 45

E. Rolling DB Extensions
3 sets of 8 w/ 25 (20 sec rest between sets)
Rest 45 sec
3 sets of 8 w/ 25 (20 sec rest between sets)

Pretty good session today, but right now my military press sucks and I am working on getting that back up in some respectable numbers. Nothing spectacular number wise today. Just putting in work.

Monday - ME Squats
A. Yoke Bar Squats
Bar x 5
125 x 5
165 x 5
185 x 5
205 x 5
2 x 3 w/ 225

2 x 6 w/ 175
added high box, 1" above parallel
165 x 20

B. Stiff leg Deadlifts
135 x 10, 155 x 10, 175 x 10

C. Banded Leg Curls
3 x 10 w/ 2 red bands
Dropset: 2 red bands x 10, 1 red band x 10

D. Yoke Bar Arch Back Hellmornings

  • Put on deadlift suit*
    165 x 6 bands
    straps down
    2 x 6 w/ 165 bands

Tuesday - ME Bench
A. Floor Press w/ 1 chain per side
2 x 6 w/ bar
2 x 5 w/ 95
135 x 5
155 x 5
175 x 5
195 x 5
205 x 4
215 x 2
225 x 1
2 x 1 w/ 235
65% sets
4 x 6 w/ 155

B. Banded DB Floor Press (single red band behind back)
45 x 10
55 x 10
65 x 10
65 x 10 + drop the band and did 3 more reps

C. Single-Arm Cross Body Extensions (did these past failure)
Set 1 w/ 25 lbs - 15/arm, 8/arm, 3/arm
Set 2 w/ 20 lbs - 20/arm, 10/arm, 4/arm

D. Heavy DB Swings - 25 x 25, 30, 35, added straps 40 reps

E. Bentover rear delts - 3 x 35 reps w/ 5 lbs
F. Muscle Snatch - Bar x 15, 12, 12

Pretty happy with the PR on floor prss today, I definitely have more in me but I decided not to push it. 235 is not bad at all for no psyching up and still having some still in me.
Besides I am not really trying to push the singles hard right now, just the 5 sets.

Everything else was just assistance/pump work that isn’t really worth commenting on. All I can say is though, my pecs are already cramping lol.