Sunday, October 31, 2010

competition

well it was a good day yesterday.

let me tell you the gym was amazing. warehouse gym that does crossfit, strongman, and mma. easy to find and surprisingly a great venue! nothing can be said but thanks to Dave Beers, Wayne Meyer, The Training Box, Tom Mitchell and all the competitors for a great day!
friday i go down there early and weighed in. was standing in parking lot stripped down to my underwear just to make weight...231.5 have to say i hate cutting weight. the trip down was horrible and waiting around unbearable. thanks to my friend for putting up with me.
after that i headed to mcdonalds for 2 cheeseburgers, 2 mcchickens, 2 mcribs, large fries, large coke, and large iced coffee. later there was a dinner for the competitors at a bbq place called MacDaddys, conveniently next to the hotel i was staying at. good food there! caught up with another competitor i have not seen in awhile, Master competitior Wayne Meyer.

saturday started off with a trip to Fort Myers beach....very cool. wish i had more time to hang around. off to the comp....what a crowd we had there. was nice to have the amount of people there watching. Bob Chicirello showed up to MC the show. good amount of competitiors...3 women, 4 masters, ton of novice, 4 lights, 4 middles...boo friday there were only 2 of us....2 heavies. 
the events went quick and other than a misloaded axle for the masters things were tight. 
the axle, trap bar dead, and farmers hold were inside the gym. tire flip and stones were done outside. thankfully because by that time of the day the gym got sauna-like and sweat sock smelly! 
most of the classes were half to a full point separating the 1st and 2nd places. intenses and brutal....but the heavies were the attraction. ended in a complete tie. went to a tie breaking event, viking press. came down to 16 reps versus 15 reps....with 310lbs! amazing competitors, one of the guys was already missing a callous. 


for the curious...it was PR's all day for me. 230 axle for 7 reps, 450 trap bar dead for 16 reps, farmers hold 250 each hand 45 seconds, 750 tire 22 seconds, 280 stone 7 reps.





Thursday, October 28, 2010

who i am

****WARNING****
WHAT YOU ARE ABOUT TO READ IS ME WITH MY FILTER COMPLETELY SHUT DOWN. IF I OFFEND ANYONE, TOO BAD. MAYBE YOU NEEDED TO BE OFFENDED!


 for the past 7 years i have lifted rocks, pulled trucks, pressed logs and generally put myself through pain and torture. for what? a couple trophies, t-shirts, a few sample supplements....for a pro-card? get real, i am not a beast. glory and fame? haha....

i do this because i love it. ever since i picked up my first stone i knew i would do this till they carted me off drooling and broken. i make no money at this, heck i lose money, but i keep going at it. strongman defines me and shapes me, literally into who i am and want to be. i have faced my darkest demons and won a few times sometimes it is a draw. do i quit? never....

i have seen them come and go in the past 7 years...you know the next world's strongest man. arrogant, full of themselves, and cock strong. win a few times but can't hang when the crap spatters off the fan. i have also seen enough of the "i just want to try" crowd to fill a stadium...ok maybe a clown car. cuz really they are clowns.
to quote my favorite lil green guy "do or do not there is no try." yes give it a shot, but one time lifting a stone does not make you a strongman. what makes you a strongman is when it is the last stone, you are exhausted and your pride is on the line. you won't win the competition but you won't let this rock beat you.

know it alls....oh yeah love them. can't tell them squat about anything, even if you are trying to help them avoid getting hurt by correcting their form. how bout the ones that only see things from their perspective, your opinion doesn't matter. hell your experience doesn't count. how long do you have a battle of wits with an unarmed opponent? time to walk away and let the idiots fall...


Sunday, October 24, 2010

ain't it fun....

getting up early on a sunday and going worship in the church of stone and iron???







was surprised at how sore i was this morning...nothing a little old man cologne and a hot shower didn't fix.
caffeined up and rode on over to my training partners house for some event training. i wasn't going to do any log but i decided it would be a good warmup. went to 190 and did 3 reps full on clean and press in one move.
walked out the farmers but was not running with it. wore my oly shoes and that was like ice skating. no traction in those things so i watched. brought out the tire i did a few sets 5-6 flips. the bike riding is paying off, i was barely breathing hard on those. finally what i showed up for...stones! popped the 200 up with just chalk, then the 230. went to do the 270 but i needed tacky...did it once but was too far from the platform so i had to get under and push. did the 270 one more time.
this was a decent day with less than a week away from the comp...nothing to do now but rest and work. what was really fun  is that we had a young kid join us to train. his mom and dad were there and it was just plain fun to  
help out and hopefully encourage someone to get into the sport.

Saturday, October 23, 2010

one week...



rode to the gym...damn a headwind all the way there. think my legs were worked well! and thank jeebus for the padded bike shorts...my culo thanks the inventor of those things!
decided to hit the 2 events i can train in the gym, deadlift and farmers hold. did both on the hammer machine.
love that thing! it really mimics a car deadlift but is wonderful for farmers holds, romanian deads and deads for reps.

deadlift on machine
180x5, 270x5, 360x5, 500x10, straps on and did 5 more.

farmers hold
550 30 seconds, 20 seconds, 10 seconds

squat machine--facing in
450x5 6 sets, drop 360x5, 270x5, 180x10

wrist curls over and under
115x10 5 sets each way

herc hold
200 40 seconds

rope hammer curls
100x30, drop 80x20, drop 60x15, drop 40x10, drop 20x5

Wednesday, October 20, 2010

c is for cookie....

i think i could eat a truckload right now. since i started riding my bike everyday my appetite has gone through the roof. not a bad deal but i have to make weight on the 30th!
on the scale yesterday i was about 240. easy to get the last few pounds off over the next 10 days. a coworker and the gym manager did both make the comment that i do look leaner...i did notice the extra veins appearing on my arms and shoulders yesterday. ok,  narcisstic moment over but i can have just one.
i plan to throw on the cold gear under armor and sweat the rest off...should make me tired and miserable. hoping it is worth it and i get to throwdown at the competition as a  lightweight!

Tuesday, October 19, 2010

bout damn time...

finally made it to the gym....made the time worth every second.

shoulders and tris

seated smith press
135x5 185x5 205x4 255x3 295x2 315x3 singles

1 arm dumbbell clean and press
50x2 70x2 90x2 100x3 singles

dumbbell side raise
20x10 10 sets

close grip press
135x5 205x5 225x5 3 sets

pushdowns
110x10 10 sets

extensions
110x8 5 sets

cable curls
80x8 5 sets

hammer curls
50x10 5 sets

weight is about 240




i guess the bike ride is hampering the strength a bit. no worries though....lets hope it helps with the weight. one thing really bothering me is my left elbow. damn old tendons...between the pain and popping i fell ancient. oh well nothing like a little ache to make me feel alive!

Thursday, October 14, 2010

more cowbell

well someone wanted more....

as of saturday i will have 2 weeks before i compete. working till monday, thats 6 in a row, will train tuesday, thursday and saturday next week. saturday will be my only event day. just need to hit stones. am i nervous about not getting in all the training? sort of...but i do this stuff for me. trophies, you just have to dust them. if i give 100% of myself that day, 1st or 50th place i will be happy.


tuesday i will get an idea on my weight. hoping the 90 minutes of bike riding will get me close to my weight. plan to head on down friday to weigh in. if i need to i will pull out the bag of tricks from wrestling...sweat the weight off and refeed after weigh ins.

have to give some love to Primordial Performance i am a rep on RXMuscle for them. all started with me logging about the Fat LossStack what a good bunch of people there and some outstanding products!
been using PreMax, EndoAmp, Toco-8, and Arginocarn recently. the combo has helped me through some grueling workouts and now fuels my bike rides to and from work.

Wednesday, October 13, 2010

tilting windmills

i should be stressed to the gills but i am not. i should be freaking out but i won't. after all that has gone on the past 2 weeks i guess i would be a good candidate for the funny farm...

picked up a new bike after junking my car....got 2 flat tires 2 days in a row, so i missed the gym both days.
grumbled my way through the rest of the weekend. one good thing is i got inspired to put a story together and do it as a comic. what inspired me? "The Man of La Mancha"



somedays i really feel like Don Quixote....where is my Dulcinea?

Saturday, October 9, 2010

pedaling my tail off

so i have done it...biked to work and the gym. one thing about a 50 minute trip on a bike, the appetite has gone crazy. no worries as long as i can make weight.

it feels good and a little responsible but it is a bit of a bummer. i mean who wants to date a guy that  does not have a car? also real tough to just get around everywhere i like to go. oh well....what real sucks is that i just can't see the light at the end of the tunnel.

so on to better things....

went to the gym and did shoulders and triceps.
push press i worked my sets with 5 reps. 135, 155, 185. then 205 for 3 and finally 225 for 5 easy reps.
next i hit the smith machine and did reverse grip presses, 205 5x5. like these for the benefit they will give me when cleaning the bar. moved over to side raises with 35's. did 10 reps 6 sets. triceps came next, pushdowns and extensions. 100lbs 10 reps 6 sets on pushdowns and 60lbs 20 reps 3 sets with extensions. decided that i needed to do some hammer curls...80lbs 5x5.

Thursday, October 7, 2010

a strange beginning

well things have gotten weird in my world....i decided to get back to school and pursue a dgree in forensic psychology and get my life put back together. "really?" you say...yes, my life is a disaster. bill collectors, student loans, crappy cars, crazy women....well as the universe would have it something or rather things will go wrong when i put my life in order.  first on the list, a blown head gasket. yup car number 4 in the last years has bit the dust! do i have the money to take care of it? no! how bout buy a new car? hell no! gues i ride my bike....next up! i cannot get money for school. apparently i defaulted on a $500 loan when i was attending devry...o h yeah let me tell you about those crooks! took their money then told me i was on probation and threw me out of school. now i owe 13000 bucks and barely attended 1 semester....fucking crooks!! when i wanted to address the situation the hung up on me. anyway...so i have to consolidate the damn thing and hopefully start school by the end of the month.

so my training has been going well along with my diet. the competition is coming up october 30th and right now i am weiging in at 237lbs. amazing what stress will do...but i have also been good with eating and doing cardio. speaking of cardio i began riding my bike to work, 60 freaking minutes. that is more in one day than i do in a week.

lifting has been good but not spectacular. one nice thing is that most of the events are trainable in the gym.
did some seated smith presses with 245 and lockouts with 305. went in the other day and did deadlifts...455 for 3, not so hot but satisfied. won't deadlift till the comp now. i still need to hit stones and see how many i can rep.

Saturday, October 2, 2010

The universe has a sick sense of humor

just when i plan to get my sh!t together and my life back in order here comes the universe to depants, atomic wedgie, and nutshot me. 2 weeks ago i dealt with a car that fell apart, pushed through and took third in my competition. this week as i plan to compete on the 30th, go back to school, and get myself a hottie...the piece of crap car i own blows the engine or a head gasket....either way it is more than i can afford and more than the rolling hunk of scrap is worth. let me thank the idiots that convinced me to get this piece of crap....F__ U!!

if i died tomorrow i would surely go to heaven and if i did go to hell i would take over. i am in hell right now. 4 cars in three years, alone and loveless, bill collectors out the ass, scrape by every freaking week, no insurance... need i go on? oh yes i have a lot to be grateful for...friends, family, a job. but i would like a reprieve from god's version of punk'd.

at some point i feel like throwing in the towel. i feel so done it is pathetic. most people would say that really is not like me, but a man has his limits. have i reached mine? i do not know but the edge of the cliff is close....