gloomy....

it is outside and how i feel today. been thinking too much lately....the past, my present, and what the future holds. wish it would all blow over and go away like this storm. but it all hovers around and just when i put the umbrella away it dumps on me.
dieting does not help either. this is when i question my sanity. why do i want to eat another piece of dry ass chicken? the ben and jerry's is so much tastier than the yogurt....BEER!!!! i want a stinking beer...going to take every fiber in my body to make it through this.
training, surprisingly going well for my mood. strength is up, endurance is there, but for how long? hopefully i can get an event training day in soon. lucky me the events for the next comp are easy and can mostly be trained in the gym.

just a few of those days...

dieting sucks, making plans to please everyone sucks, people that can't tell time suck, bill collectors and liars suck, need i go on? the list is endless...

oh it all fueled some heinous training which now has me in pain. not the kind i love, you know the sore tight musclular sweet pain that tells me i am growing. no it is the kind that keeps me wondering why and how long i can keep this up...why? i plan on competing one more time, october 30th. fairly easy comp but a long strange weekend.

been doing cardio in the mornings and fasted. 40 minutes total. elliptical and treadmill. the elliptical is intervals and the treadmill is low intensity. gym days have been back and triceps so far. will hit legs tomorrow.
back was brutal. zerchers with 315 5x3, rows 315 5x5, cleans 175x8,  did rope rows and pulldowns too. higher reps and sets for both. tricep day was fueled with hate and pain....close grip 315 5x2, reverse grip on smith 255 5x5, did tates with cable and pushdowns, again both with lot of volume.

it's personal this time....

anyone that knows me well understands that i do not lift and compete for trophies. i do this stuff for personal achievment and challenge. but yes the trophies are nice and so is the recognition that goes with it. that being said...ok typed...i have some stuff to work on....

the axle is my nemesis. i was surprised at the deadlift from saturday do now worries, but that damn clean and press has aggravated and scared me since day one. well no more! time to get to work. this is priority number one...getting the clean and press with the axle. going to work clean pulls and hang cleans.

next on my list is grip strength. goes well with the axle but also will help wih all other events. going for ovrall grip strength. going to combine static, pinch, and forearm work.

surprise  surprise but next is endurance....this is a twofold demon. strongman combines muscular endurance with cardiovascular endurance. so part one to combat this evil is more volume in the gym. have to work past that nasty burn which will stop mere mortals. cardio will have to be the HIIT variety....yes the nasty high intensity intervals. going to work this three ways, elliptical, stiarmaster, and tire flips.

now for some goals.....

#1...press 300lbs overhead
#2...deadlift 600lbs raw
#3...put up a 350lb stone

now for the vain and narcissitic portion of my blog. i am approaching 40 and think to myself, damn i look good...people still think i am in my 20's. i like that! but what i don't like is the keg i carry around. a personal goal over the next few weeks is to make that keg into a couple 40 ouncers. i have made some decent progress. with the Fat Loss stack from Primordial Performance i can actually see the bottom of my obliques.
so i am going to up the cardio, watch my diet, and put in some hard work....

leg day....

again why did i go into the gym? sensible people would say take the week off, rest and relax....me? hell no!
no rest for the wicked and stupid.

squats 135,225,315,405,495x5

squat machine facing in  450x8 6 sets drop sets...360,270,180,90 8 reps

romanian DL on machine 270x10 7 sets

stairmaster 1 minute 5 sets

calf raises 140x100 rest pause reps

one more for today

went to the gym and did shoulders....

push press 135x5, 185x5---those 2 sets were actually strict press, 205x3, 225x1, 245x3

smith seated press 300 5 singles

dumbbell side raise 35x10 10sets

dumbbell clean and press 100x8---if it was a comp only 7 would have counted.

treadmill 25 minutes

was it worth it?

take that breath and make that step....don't know why but the Stone Sour song is resonating in my head today.
says a lot about me and what has gone on lately.

saturday was intense. i was ready mentally and physically. had all my stuff ready and headed out. wouldn't you know the universe stepped in to smack me down bright and early. halfway to the comp my car takes a dump on me. busted radiator hose and lost my belt. lucky i was near my mom and dad. called them to find a place in town to fix my car. limped it there and let my training partner i was not competing. then i thought "what the hell....all this effort, time, and energy to waste?!?" borrowed my dads car and headed over. made the call back to my training partner and told him to let the promoter know i was going to be late. funny thing is the i was early, we started the comp late...

first event was the press medley. 220 log, 250 log, 275 axle. 220 went up in one motion ala Derek Poundstone. tried that with the 250, had to reset it and push press. nearly passed out from holding my breath as i set the log down hard. went after the axle. let me tell you i hate axles...cleaned it nice and high but could not get under it. bums me out cuz i think i can press that. well i have work to do...

next was the axle deadlift. did i already say i hate axles? it is the fact that i cannot wrap my hands around the bar. this event replaced the conan's wheel, an event i am good at. oh well...just do it right?! this was a last man standing event and my weight class jumped in at 450lbs. 450, 475, 500,525 all went easy. the big test was 550...my gym best was 545. i pulled it, felt slow but locked it out! there were 2 of us left in the middleweights so next one to pull successfully wins the event. my opponent missed...and so did i. the bar was not moving. so an event win but a tie.

yoke/keg carry was next. 625lb and 260lbs 60 feet each way. i was  surprised by the yoke. felt light and went smooth, but i was not setting any landspeed records. picked up the keg and began my run, ok stroll..
got about 15 feet and stopped but i was not putting it down. rested in my lap and kept going. did that one more time wuth 5 feet to go....i was not going to fail!! i took the last 2 steps and set that beast of a keg down.

easy event next, or so i thought....farmers walk with 260lbs each hand 100 feet...picked up and took off with it. feeling really good. 30' left and i feel it slip from my right hand. set it down and go to pick it up...then i notice the blood and hanging skin. i tore a freaking callous...done on this event. had to clean up the hand and peel off the skin. that was painful.

the last event was atlas stones. my favorite! 240 to 60" 260 to 54" 325 to 48" and 350 to 48"  i tackied up and went to it. 240 flew up and so did the 260. 325....only 2 people got this so far....i picked it up. it slipped a bit. thsi sucker was big too! reset my hands pulled it tight against me and stood up. pushed that monster on the platform. i went over the 350 and just tried but it was going nowhere...i will take this as a win too. no one else in my class got 3 stones. this win also pushed my into a tiebreaker on points. because i had 2 event wins i was able to walk away with a third place trophy.

3 days....

here it goes...getting close. thinking about the drive, the events, what i need to take, food, blah blah blah...
attempting to concentrate on work, but sll i can think about is saturday. i have put so much into this i cannot fail. personally i won't. i can accept someone showing up and doing better but when i step up to the bar, log, stone, yoke and farmers it is personal. will the blood, sweat, and callouses have been worth it? am i worth it?

7 days....

Accept challenges, so that you may feel the exhilaration of victory. 
       -George S. Patton



















today was my last training day before the competition. my body is feeling battered. the rest will be welcome.
nothing spectacular today, just did some cleans on the log and axle. walked with the farmers and yoke. threw up some stones.
food, shower, nap and college football...time for round 2. the irish will be on in a few minutes.

what does a bored strongman do?

so i was sitting around all morning. bored outta my skull. nothing to watch, even with a few hundred movies and shows that i have saved on hulu and netflix. rain pouring, so the pool and beach were out of the qusestion.  i said the hell with it and headed to the gym.




decided it was a good day to do triceps.

close grip press
135x5, 205x5, 255x5, 295x5, 315x3, 385x1---PR! yeah that what a bored strongman does!

pushdowns
80x10 10 sets


that's it! short sweet and to the point.

resurrection

after the last couple days, this is what i needed. a complete resurrection of attitude, strength, and resolve.
i figured out i was tired, underfed, and very distracted. the event change threw me off, but oh well...
10 days and no time for that stuff. pulled out the heavy hardcore music and got down to business.

deadlifts 245x5 315x5 405x3 495x1 545x1--no straps  585--2 attempts but it was not going anywhere.

romanian deads on machine 360x5 7 sets

smith lunges 115x10 5 sets

stairmaster 2 minutes level 3 5sets---serious nasty pump in the calves

and some more fun stuff....got on the scale and liking what i see. 237!! also i have to admit a little vanity but the Dermatherm is awesome! why? i am seeing  the bottom of my obliques. and believe me that is something i have never seen before! got to say the Fat Loss stack from Primordial is the deal...

enough of my rambling...i am hungry.

when it rains it pours....

well training last night blew ass....i was feeling good about pressing. until my right forearm and bicep started throbbing. aggravated from the cleans the night before...not something i needed 2 weeks out.




thought i could move on to machine presses but that was worse. adjusting grip width didn't help either. called it a night and went home. threw on some horse liniment, wrap, and brace.

dull ache today but no serious pain.

will take a crap sandwich with a side of steaming dog turds

main course
for the past few weeks training has been great. weights moving, strength off the charts...then last night happened. i was tired and unmotivated all day. but so what? i still took myself to the gym. i trudged through my warmups and started to feel the fire burn. good mornings were tore up! when i did 5 deep and easy with 405lbs i knew...495 for doubles 5 sets i owned it. lucky i was alone in the gym. i was intense.

zerchers came next, by now i was insane....put the bar at knee height. took one with 225 for a ride. easy.
315 2 reps 5 sets..yup those were good. now i wanted to do rows but thought, there was my downfall, i need to get some cleans in. so hang cleans it was. 135, 185, 205...not bad pretty fast and smooth.

225, now the doubts crept in....too heavy, going to hurt, pain, can't do it...pulled one, yup i missed. decided i needed the speed off the floor...didn't make it either. i was not letting this go! went with an over under grip and attempted to continental this bitch! first pull was low and when i transferred my grip i dropped the bar on my thigh. one more time...higher and made the transfer. but could not get it to the clean position.

lesson from this...train the movement constantly. i needed work on this and let it slip. also cleans at the end of the workout are not supposed to be heavy...school is out.

side dish
checked the NAS board this morning only to be horrified....event change 2 weeks out! the promoter is replacing the conan's wheel with an axle deadlift. great...anothe lift i have neglected. and i am killer on conan's wheel. a bright spot to this is that my last deadlift was a PR after a long layoff. so this might be to my advantage.


tasty meal but the waitress gets no tip...