Thank you again, I bought as many veggies as my budget will allow Saturday morning and have already noticed differences in my energy. We’ll see how it continues.
Good luck on the competition, I’m excited to hear the results. It looks absolutely brutal with that many max attempts.
BJack: Hahahah that is awesome man! I hope they all couldn’t walk the next day! I look forward to seeing you saturday!
FarmerOwen: Hahahaha maybe I will try that out! I hope I don’t let you down brother! i just want to go out there and do what i know how to do…
LiftingStrumpet: Thanks for the support! Yea, as long as my body shows up on game day, I should have a decent showing. My biggest worry is that if i mess any of my early attempts up, then you don’t get to continue. Have to be perfect. I am just going to go out and do my job. Wherever the chips fall, they fall.
Roran: That is great news brother! The extra vegetables and fat should have your energy right where it needs to be. And thank you very much for the support!
TUESDAY, 24MARCH2015 - Work For Today
Wave 1/Week 3/Day 2
CONDITIONING
100 Curtis P’s @ 135lbs.
Yea, I’m not too sure why I did it either…I just have a weird fear that for every second I am not going forward, than I’m going backward…Definitely burnt some calories today though. Hopefully the weight will not be a problem…
I tried Curtis P’s once… 3 minutes with just the bar and I was fried haha.
Good luck with the meet Alpha. Will be very interested to hear how it goes - although I don’t doubt that you’ll crush it.
Alpha, If I recall you were influenced a bit by Waterbury, here is some From-The-Archives from him that has some GPP stuff (you already do some from the first one, but the other 2 seem to be novel)
The other one is called an “X-Drill” and it is a way to get some “running” style conditioning in while working some of the different muscles in the (It incorporates sideways running, forwards, and backwards. Then at each of the “corners” you can do a squat, or a burpee… Or whatever you want to set up at a corner. Very versatile):
Might be able to do that instead of your 400m stuff I see every now and then.
Good luck this weekend brother, my money is on you to do very well and set PR’s
TheWolfMan: Thanks so much brother! Yeah, Curtis P’s are horrendous.
Lonnie123: Thanks for posting those links brother! I am definitely going to be using some of these in the near future! And thanks for the support man, I really appreciate it!
==================================================
Weight cut is going pretty well, I have full intention of sweating the remainder of the weight off tomorrow night, seeing how much water I bleed off during sleep and then see if I need to spit in a cup all day.
I really think i am going to be fine though. Last water intake will be tomorrow evening sometime and last food will probably be tomorrow afternoon. Drank about 1.5 gallons of distilled water today. Will do about the same tomorrow until I cut it out entirely.
[quote]Alpha wrote:
I recommend a belt any time you feel the need to brace really hard. In fact that is all the belt is made to do - give your stomach something to push out against. That s why I tell people not to synch their belt down as tight as they possibly can, because it won’t allow you to get a full belly full of air and force your breath into the upper part of your lungs. This will cause rounding of the upper back and collapsing of the torso.
[/quote]
And The Herd shall be heard.
This should be a topic of its own. Intro to Belts.
emskee
emskee: Yea man, it would probably be a really good topic to tackle. Any top 5 points you think I should hit?
=====================================================
Well, after trash bags, sweats, a lot of incline walking and 20 minutes in an epsom salt bath, I just hit weight. This by far has been he hardest weight cut I have ever done. Not because of the weight itself, but because I haven’t been home for much of the past month. I usually take 4 weeks to cut, and unfortunately the bad guys don’t respect the process much…
If I wake up heavy (which I shouldn’t) it will be back on the treadmill for me before I fly home. Leaving straight from the airport to go to weigh-ins. If I wake up on weight I will just be chilling until I can step on the scale.
I haven’t had any solid food for 3 days now but the constant traveling hasn’t helped my body feel very happy about releasing the weight or water. I’ll make it though. I think missing weight for a fight or a meet is the least professional thing you can do. If you say you are going to do it, then you do what it takes to get there…
My mood has held up pretty well, but I can feel it getting a little bit dicey for me.
Life is great. 99% of adults will never know what it feels like to go through something like this, plus the nerves and everything else that comes with singing up and actually following through with a competition. They will just yell at their kids to do it then live vicariously through them. I learn a ton about myself every time I go through these things and do my best to consider it a privilege.
For those of you on the fence about signing up for something…Do it. The lessons that you will take away from the journey as well worth the effort. Be present with all of your emotions and give it a shot. No one cares if you come in first or last. It is all about having the balls and commitment to sign-up and follow through.
Ok, back off my soapbox. Love you guys, I’ll catch up with you after weigh ins tomorrow.
Hey Alpha,
I’ve never had to cut weight for anything, but I do have an opinion on it. I watch MMA, UFC etc, and I can’t help but think that having weigh-in the day before kind of skews what the actual weight classes are and the performance of some of the competitors.
Guys put themselves through hell to make weight, so they can hopefully regain it after the weigh-in, to hopefully gain an advantage.
I kind of wish the weigh-in was same day, so that guys would fight in their real weight classes, instead of having some “freaks” that have the right proportions to maximize their cut, like Sherk, GSP, Silva, etc, and they end up pounding on guys that if you weighed them after the fight, they’d probably be in different weight classes sometimes.
I’ve seen a few fights where the cut was bad, so the guy wasn’t in the best shape, or like you said, just didn’t make weight.
I think it takes away from the actual purpose of the competition. Kind of like creating an (as I see it) unnecessary barrier to entry, so-to-speak.
What are your thoughts on this?
Cutting weight is a skill. Some people are better at it than others, same as with all the other skills involved in the sport. I feel like we should reward those who are skilled at the various aspects of their sports.
Best of luck with the contest Alpha. I know you will make weight.
I do agree that it’s a skill or rather art-form for some. But I don’t think it adds to the sport, and I would argue that it actually takes away from the sport.
[quote]MattyG35 wrote:
I do agree that it’s a skill or rather art-form for some. But I don’t think it adds to the sport, and I would argue that it actually takes away from the sport.[/quote]
As a competitor in the sport, I disagree, but I realize you wanted Alpha opinion.
HAH. Phone autocorrect Alpha to Allah. That was crazy.
I’d really enjoy a write up on belts, me knowing very little about them. How to, when to, who should, and on what. I understand you are a pretty busy man though, but if you are looking for ideas that has my vote.
And good luck on the competition!
So you don’t think it’s a bit misleading to say you weigh X in a competition, but actually weigh X +1 during the competition?
Like Olympic lifting for example, same day, 2 hours before.
I just get a bit of cognitive dissonance being under the impression that I would be competing at 85 kg, when I’m actually 90 kg. I think you have to rationalize to yourself, “That’s just the rules.”
pwnisher, would you be against same day weigh-ins? or are you just ok with the system as is?
[quote]Alpha wrote:
emskee: Yea man, it would probably be a really good topic to tackle. Any top 5 points you think I should hit?
[/quote]
Maybe…
"Okay, grab the back of your head with your left hand.
Now push your head up to your computer screen.
Now, read this 5 times out loud.
‘I recommend a belt any time you feel the need to brace really hard. In fact that is all the belt is made to do - give your stomach something to push out against. That s why I tell people not to synch their belt down as tight as they possibly can, because it won’t allow you to get a full belly full of air and force your breath into the upper part of your lungs. This will cause rounding of the upper back and collapsing of the torso.’
Good."
Your point is made well. People just need to heed.
IMO: Somewhere between too tight and too loose, there is an optimal point where pushing against the belt through abdominal muscle contraction causes that contraction to be referenced off of the belt. The muscles thus bulge and because the belt will not allow them to bulge forward they bulge backwards creating intra-abdominal pressure against the spine and upwards into the chest, downward into the lower abdominal space. There results a curved structure to your front which supports you from hips to neck.
A physicist or mechanical/civil engineer needs to pop in here, but I look at the belt, when properly tightened as a heavy truck centered on an arched bridge made up of the muscle structure to your front.
In reference space, the forces from your belt pointed inward toward your spine as you push your belly and chest out results in normal forces into the spine plus a force vector at each end of the bridge (hips and neck) which push down and up respectively. Thus you stay solidly positioned. Like the bridge.
Belt too tight = flat or concave bridge: it may/will collapse.
Belt too loose = what belt?
Or something, I don’t know.
The point with weigh-ins is to make a level playing field. The current system does that, whether it is a 24 hr weigh in, or a 2 hr weigh in. All competitors have the same time for that competition. I have only personally ever done night before weigh in or 2 hr weigh in, and I can assure you night before allows for more flexibility and refeeding. But since all competitors have the same advantage/disadvantage, then it doesn’t really matter. I do think it is hard to compare lifting records from organizations with 2 hr weigh ins and drug testing to those with 24 hr and no testing.
[quote]MattyG35 wrote:
So you don’t think it’s a bit misleading to say you weigh X in a competition, but actually weigh X +1 during the competition?
Like Olympic lifting for example, same day, 2 hours before.
I just get a bit of cognitive dissonance being under the impression that I would be competing at 85 kg, when I’m actually 90 kg. I think you have to rationalize to yourself, “That’s just the rules.”
pwnisher, would you be against same day weigh-ins? or are you just ok with the system as is?[/quote]
It would be incredibly misleading to say that you weigh something when competing when you don’t weigh that. I have never actually run into that though as a competitor. Everyone is very open about how much weight they cut to make weight.
I don’t read being a 85kg competitor as meaning that you are a competitor who weighs 85kg when competing. I see it as being a competitor in the 85kg weight class, which means that, at weigh ins, you have the ability to weigh 85kgs. I feel like every competitor understands this, and it’s generally the outside observers who take issue with it.
In my experience, 2 hour weigh ins did not stop weight cutting, but they were FAR more dangerous. I wrestled in high school with 2 hour weigh ins, and had peers that would cut 12lbs the day of the meet and only have 2 hours to try to get rehydrated before they went out and exerted themselves. As a competitor, I don’t want to see that happen.
All that said, I don’t cut weight for strongman. I feel like, if you don’t like weight cutting, you can just choose not to do it. All you have to do is either get lighter or get stronger and you can still win without having to cut weight. I actually won my last contest against a guy who cut 15lbs to get to my weight class, because at the end we both tied on points, but since he barely made weight at 199.5 while I stepped on the scale at 197 in jeans, I took the class by being lighter.
[quote]emskee wrote:
IMO: Somewhere between too tight and too loose, there is an optimal point where pushing against the belt through abdominal muscle contraction causes that contraction to be referenced off of the belt. The muscles thus bulge and because the belt will not allow them to bulge forward they bulge backwards creating intra-abdominal pressure against the spine and upwards into the chest, downward into the lower abdominal space. There results a curved structure to your front which supports you from hips to neck.
A physicist or mechanical/civil engineer needs to pop in here, but I look at the belt, when properly tightened as a heavy truck centered on an arched bridge made up of the muscle structure to your front.
In reference space, the forces from your belt pointed inward toward your spine as you push your belly and chest out results in normal forces into the spine plus a force vector at each end of the bridge (hips and neck) which push down and up respectively. Thus you stay solidly positioned. Like the bridge.
Belt too tight = flat or concave bridge: it may/will collapse.
Belt too loose = what belt?
Or something, I don’t know.
[/quote]
From an engineering standpoint, I would model the torso as a cantilevered beam rather than a bridge since there is only one fixed point which is at the hips and one external load which is near the end.
Without a rigid torso, the straight beam would be a weak hollow tube that can flex like a diving board. For a rigid torso w/o a belt, the straight beam would be in the shape of a circular pipe w/ closed ends that is pressurized with low pressure. For a rigid torso w/ a belt, the straight beam would still be in the shape of a circular pipe w/ closed ends but pressurized with a much higher pressure. Pressure vessels are stiffer under bending compared to its unpressurized counterpart.
A belt that is too tight may not allow the beam to be straight (not being able to get into proper position) so it would already be bent and be at a mechanical disadvantage.
[quote]lift206 wrote:
From an engineering standpoint, I would model the torso as a cantilevered beam rather than a bridge since there is only one fixed point which is at the hips and one external load which is near the end.
Without a rigid torso, the straight beam would be a weak hollow tube that can flex like a diving board. For a rigid torso w/o a belt, the straight beam would be in the shape of a circular pipe w/ closed ends that is pressurized with low pressure. For a rigid torso w/ a belt, the straight beam would still be in the shape of a circular pipe w/ closed ends but pressurized with a much higher pressure. Pressure vessels are stiffer under bending compared to its unpressurized counterpart.
A belt that is too tight may not allow the beam to be straight (not being able to get into proper position) so it would already be bent and be at a mechanical disadvantage.[/quote]
Beautiful, thank you. This is good, what was wanted.
My imagery originates from within the group of lifters that I have known who, like me (read: “possessors of ultra protrusible power guts”) feel that though we can be approximated as cylinders supported by intra-abdominal pressure (my first point), thrusting our pooched guts into/over the belt adds a further stability which we feel through and along the front surface (my bridge analog.) For example, this mental picture serves me well as I struggle to not collapse into a big deadlift.
(I hope to not hijack another Alpha thread.)
[quote]emskee wrote:
Beautiful, thank you. This is good, what was wanted.
My imagery originates from within the group of lifters that I have known who, like me (read: “possessors of ultra protrusible power guts”) feel that though we can be approximated as cylinders supported by intra-abdominal pressure (my first point), thrusting our pooched guts into/over the belt adds a further stability which we feel through and along the front surface (my bridge analog.) For example, this mental picture serves me well as I struggle to not collapse into a big deadlift.
(I hope to not hijack another Alpha thread.)
[/quote]
Haha, well both are just rough approximations. A pipe isn’t that accurate since the majority of muscle is along the top (the back muscles) and the thinner muscles are along the bottom.
The ab muscle failure mode is by compression but increased intra-abdominal pressure preloads the ab muscles with tensile stress which means it takes more force to reach the compression strength limit (the load has to overcome the compression strength limit + the tensile preload). A belt allows to preload with an even higher tensile stress.
The imagery is more important than the analysis if it produces better results, haha.
Edit: Forget what I said above. I modeled the muscle fiber element incorrectly since it should only be able to take tensile loads, not compression. In that respect, the abs would still form a pressure vessel. The downside with analysis is modeling anything incorrectly can throw everything off, lol.
So, basically…
If the belt is too tight, you can’t build up enough pressure. (Due to myriad reasons, e.g., rigidity but not enough volume.)
If the belt is too loose, you can’t build up enough pressure. (Due to myriad reasons, e.g., volume but not enough rigidity )
If the belt is just right, you can build up more pressure than if you weren’t wearing a belt at all.