Yeah, generally, I try to come up with a plan the week or day before leading up to a workout, and execute it. Like, I’ll think in my head, “Okay, I want to hit a new 5x5 PR, and I think I’m strong enough to based on how things have gone recently.” I’ll do that with any lift. Sometimes, it’s going for rep PRs, and sometimes I scratch it all, and shoot for something crazy if i feel great. Conversely, I’ll also scratch things off and be more conservative if i feel like shit or I just need to be more prudent.
Sometimes, I’ll give myself a break and do long training blocks of hypertrophy oriented parameters only, and slowly build back up to heavier work, in time. I also train the way I do due to years of perpetual injuries. It’s been a tedious process to find the right combination of exercises that work, and knowing what really messes with me.
Finally, I enjoy side bends due to the fact that I just feel like often in life we’re not carrying or lugging around something in a symmetrical fashion and we’ve got to have unilateral stability conflated with movement. Sometimes I do heavy ass waiter walks (holding a dumbbell in a single arm DB press position while maintaining a neutral spine and walking with it), especially amidst contest prep. I just think strong ass obliques are great for spine health, too.
Push Jerks (axle)
145x5,5
225x3,3
265x2,3
285x8 not so easy lol
285x8 not redipping enough, lats are tight, blah blah, need to stop pressing these out so much
285x7, man, SO bummed to have just ran out of gas for the 8th. Tried to get under it but just didn’t have enough in me for a big enough pop off the chest.
So the above is a pretty big work capacity PR. Nice.
Overhead Rack Lockouts (bar at crown)
155x10,10
185x5
225x5
225x5
225x5 5th was a major grinder, but i believed i failed multiple sets of 5 last session so I’m pleased.
Hey Vinny, how strong do you have to be not to 0 on any events at a novice strongman comp?
I am considering doing a strongman comp at some point just for shits and giggles, (obviously when both my back and hip feels like cooperating) I think my current gym runs local ones occasionally/people at my gym do strongmen comps.
inb4 ruptured bicep, calf, and herniated spine the very first time I try to do an atlas stone
You’re definitely strong enough to be competitive in amateur regional competitions in the open 200lb weight class. Contest events vary so much, and some promoters are very creative and the events can range from tests of static strength, to just tests of overall athleticism.
You’d just need practice with events, and the strength you currently have is probably enough to lend itself to giving you decent contest placings. Above all, you’ll have fun, and improve and see it pay off, should you pursue it.
Oh also, I placed dead last at my first contest, beforehand thinking I could maybe win. So naive and green I was. Point is, I got a lot better by grinding like a mofo. I had about your numbers when I started, (little more on the press) but I was 230lbs.
I tried (actual) yoke walks for the first time. Beltless and gripped it like a squat, mistakes were made. I am sure if I did them properly (belt and gripping the sides like a non-retarded person) they’d get better but somehow suck even more because I could add more weight.
I now know what you mean by yoke walks being death
If you want true terror check out Mart Seim, that man is a fucking unit and would be a GOAT in strongman if he made the transition. High 100’skg strict press as maintenance work, he has a 400kg atg high bar beltless squat (that’s the most he squats because the barbell he uses is like a fucking tsunami bar at that weight, he probably could take the squat world record if he wanted to) that again is maintenance work, he’s pause jerked 255 so his actual jerk is in the 270+ area, I think he’s push pressed around 250 too. He has all of these crazy static strength markers, and he hasn’t even tried to push any of them in years because he’s stronger than he will ever need to be for weightlifting.
6’1" is doable. Eddie is 6’3", Pudz 6’1, Big Z was 6’3", and Magnusson was 6’0" and Bill Kazmier was 6’2", and Lovchev if he ends up being good after actually transitioning to the sport is 6’2". It’s fucking Shaw and the mountain that are freakish outliers (in the good way), nearly 7 foot and both 400+ pounds.
Mart Seim is short for a SHW in weightlifting too, he’d be better as a 120 if we end up killing a smaller class and combining some of the mid weight classes a tad and adding a heavier weight class than 105 as planned.
You are spot on, plenty of previous strongman were similar height, hell I think Gary Taylor was just on 6ft. But the sport does seem to have been changed by those monsters you mentioned. There used to be a much more athletic component to the competition but now the weights they are moving just keep going up. Hence the need to be 400lbs to be competitive.
Deadlifts (double overhad, no hook grip)
135x5,5,3
225x3,3
315x3
405x10
405x10
405x10
405x10
after set 4, physically speaking, i am done. empty, can barely stand my head hurts and I feel nauseous. This is stupid.
405x13 cramped in the hips the entire time I bent down to the bar so I had to literally hoist the weight off the floor mariusz style with no mind to form. Gah, not fun.
I had no issues holding onto the bar by the last set. Reps felt strong but obviously it was agony.
I don’t like the squat grip with hands on yoke either. I think it only makes sense to get your arms out to the side as it minimizes swing and only aids in balance. The downfall is a bit less upper back tightness, but most yokes these days are made in a way to be somewhat ergonomically friendly, so you don’t have to have your arms straight out to reach the uprights.
But yeah, they’re awful, though generally the weight is heavy enough to where you’re literally hardly conscious while taking steps. Just kinda going through the motions.
Strict Overhead Press
45x10,10
95x5,5
135x3,3,3
185x3
235x2
245x4
245x4 holy crap, I can feel my sticking point (right above crown) going away. I just accelerate right through at the top, and 245 is no joke of a strict press for me. Very pleased.
245x4
245x4
245x5 grinder, but finished.
Overhead Rack Lockouts (bar at crown)
155x10,5
185x5
225x3
225x3
225x5
225x6 PR probably, or whatever, tough set
135x10 strict press right after
Laterals SS w/ Band Pull Apart (underhand, feels even better)
x15/x15
x15/x15
x15/x15
x10/x15
