DEstrength's Strongmanish Training

Training Training Logs
101

6/8/15 late night/ 6/9/15 super early morning

Max effort bench
rack lockouts
got up to 375X1, and it was easily a 6-7+ seconds long grind, and tried 385 but failed

JM presses
95X6
135X6
150X6
150X6
150X6

weighted fat grip chin ups
25X8
25X6
bwX5

Didn’t have much time left to do remaining homework/get ready for school so I stopped it here.

9/10/15

DE squat/deadlift

box squats against light bands
245X2 for 8 sets, 1 minute rest

conv pulls against quad micro minis
235X1 for 8 sets, 20 second rest

sumo SLDL
285X5 2 minute rest
285X5
285X5

feet to bar
5X6
5X6
5X6

chin ups
bwX18
bwX7 grip/hands were destroyed
bwX2

I managed to eek in some quality training. The past week has been brutal, but I have gotten all of the big assignments done and I am transitioning back into school well.

Notes:Gonna do DE bench tomorrow. The DE work today was thrown around incredibly easily, even with the bar weight for the squats are higher. Light bands feel like nothing after that super heavy band cycle I was doing.

102

9/13/15

Max effort squat/deadlift day

Reverse light and mini band squat
135X5
225X3
315X3
405X3 add belt
435X3
465X5 added knee wraps, stopped here since I felt the bottom of my left knee wrap slipping

took my knee wraps and belt off and let my blood pressure/the feeling of death dissipate.

3 second pause squats
135X3
275X3
345X3 for 3 sets, 2 minute rest

single leg hip thrusts
bwX50 per side, the 50 reps were broken up into mini sets

Will do abs once I go to the store to get brotein powder and some meat/milk and other stuff. I need to make sure instead of one revolution below the knees I need to do two or more. Also it is crazy how hard it is to squat with a pause without any gear on, I lose my stretch reflex/rebound making the whole lift slow. I am going to do pause squats until two weeks out to make sure I am comfortable and strong in the hole. It’s never been a problem before, but it’d be a really shitty way to miss a PR by cutting depth/losing balance. That, and I am lowering volume/increasing specificity, and I need a squat variation to put on this day that won’t take a lot out of me.

103

Paused squats are great. I’ve found them not only good for confidence out of the hole but also helping groin/hip niggles (might sound weird, but they do that for me).

104

[quote]MarkKO wrote:
Paused squats are great. I’ve found them not only good for confidence out of the hole but also helping groin/hip niggles (might sound weird, but they do that for me). [/quote]

Yeah, must say, take advantage of them! I remember doing them for weeks on end exclusively to work on my front squat and it made my belted non-paused FS feel fucking amazing.

105

9/15/15

Max effort bench

competition grip against doubled minis
45X5 without
45X5 with
95X3
135X3
185X3
205X3
225X3
255X1
265X1 stopped here

tricep extensions
105X8
105X8
105X8

DB lateral raises
30’sX20
30’sX20
30’sX20

some single armed stuff for chin ups, just negatives.

9/16/15

DE squat/deadlift day

light band squat
265X2 for 8 sets, 1 minute rest

deadlifts against quaded micros
255X1 for 8 sets, 20 second rest

sumo SLDL
295X5
295X5
295X5

suitcase deadlifts
175X3
175X3
175X3
175X3

single leg back extensions
bwX7 per side
bwX3 per side

I am going to do some extra rear delt, arms, and abs later tonight if I have time. There is a bug going around the school, and I have it too.

106

[quote]strongmanvinny wrote:

[quote]MarkKO wrote:
Paused squats are great. I’ve found them not only good for confidence out of the hole but also helping groin/hip niggles (might sound weird, but they do that for me). [/quote]

Yeah, must say, take advantage of them! I remember doing them for weeks on end exclusively to work on my front squat and it made my belted non-paused FS feel fucking amazing. [/quote]
What type of sick monster does front squats with a belt? (jk) Yeah, I am going to include them, even if they don’t have a direct carryover, the extra confidence is good.

107

I’ve been out of training for a bit. I picked up some bronchitis mid week, and I can barely breath or talk at the moment. I started a cycle of antibiotics today, so hopefully I can get back to training soon.

108

Unlucky. Good to see you’re using your brain and not training until recovered.

109

9/21/15

Max effort bench day

close grip incline
45X5
95X5
135X5
185X5
205X3
225X3
240X2 I would have gotten the third, but my spotter took the weight at the top 5th of the rep even though I barely had it, it would’ve been a 5 pound PR while sick as fuck

DB bench
90’sX6
90’sX6
90’sX6

lat pull down
180X8
180X8
180X8

elbows out one arm tricep extension
25’sXa lotXa bunch

poundstone curls
45X50

I feel really weak and sick at the moment, and my eating has been shit. I am going to try to get my eating back up (my appetite has been nonexistent while sick), sleep plenty, and keep taking my medicine. I am going to do some rack pulls today.

I’ll probably be back to 100% in time to start my circa-max cycles, and this shouldn’t interfere too much if at all with my meet performance.

Overall, I’d rate this workout about a 4/10. I probably could’ve tripled 245 if I came in feeling better.

110

[quote]MarkKO wrote:
Unlucky. Good to see you’re using your brain and not training until recovered. [/quote]
Yeah. I think I feel good enough now that I can start coming back to training. I am probably at 90% as far as strength goes at the moment, so not good, but still trainable.

111

ME squat/deadlift day (date unknown)

rack pulls from the shin
135X5
185X5
225X5
275X3
315X3
365X3
405X3 added belt
430X3 it was hard as heck to hold onto this without chalk, it is a massive PR for rack pulls (although this is the first time I belted up for it, and my back/hips feeling vulnerable from a very bad previous injury is normally the limiting factor)

I tried to do pause squats and I worked up to three plates, but my groove felt like shit, my walkout was shitty, and my hands were too beat up to grab the bar properly, so I just did hamstrings, lats, and abs.

9/28/15
DE bench, first week of circa-max
bench against doubled lights, and a set of chains
45X5 chains only
45X5 chains only
45X3 bands and chains
85X3
115X3 for six sets

close grip incline bench
225X5 2 minutes rest
225X4, I would’ve missed a fifth rep.

At this point the school weightroom was closed so I had to finish up at home.

very wide fat grip pull ups
bwX8
bwX8
bwX8

curls for the gurlz
105X8
105X4
105X3

front raises
35’sX12
35’sX12
35’sX12

I feel strong and healthy now. I am going to jump up to 135 next week for four-five sets, and get a feel for my last week’s weight on the last set or two. The circa-max work is definitely not easy, but it still looks like DE work, and it feels like I just programmed heavy on DE work, so I am taking that as a sign that it is too light, so I’ll adjust my percentages/inflate the max I am using a tiny bit.

Tomorrow is the first day of circa-max squats. Fun.

112

Also as bad as it is, I am already thinking of what to do for my off season. I’d say tons of sled drags, tons of assistance work at the 40-60 total rep range, doing stuff that I suck at/that increases the range of motion, and just add tons of mass to places that I have lost some mass/I could use more.

My pecs, quads, calves, back, and arms all could use more mass. (INB4 someone mentions that they are all beach muscles)

That’s pretty much all to mention. Run my circa-max cycles, keep hammering away at the shit that has made me strong, back off, lift heavy ass weight, go do stuff I’ve been neglecting or will keep me getting stronger in the long run.

113

[quote]Destrength wrote:
Also as bad as it is, I am already thinking of what to do for my off season. I’d say tons of sled drags, tons of assistance work at the 40-60 total rep range, doing stuff that I suck at/that increases the range of motion, and just add tons of mass to places that I have lost some mass/I could use more.

My pecs, quads, calves, back, and arms all could use more mass. (INB4 someone mentions that they are all beach muscles)

That’s pretty much all to mention. Run my circa-max cycles, keep hammering away at the shit that has made me strong, back off, lift heavy ass weight, go do stuff I’ve been neglecting or will keep me getting stronger in the long run.[/quote]

Building muscle is overlooked by a lot of people. I think for strongman it’s extremely important to have a very strong foundation. The contingencies of events at shows means you have to be as well rounded as possible. Being dexterous and technically savvy is critical but so is just being strong as fuck.

Part of why I’m doing my current training is just to get myself as statically strong as possible for competition. It really is very prudent to consider the off-season as more important than competition season just because of the stance of liberty you can take, whereas the competition season is often limiting to the confines of the shows demands, assuming you’re vying for placement. So you’re on the right track for sure.

114

[quote]strongmanvinny wrote:

[quote]Destrength wrote:
Also as bad as it is, I am already thinking of what to do for my off season. I’d say tons of sled drags, tons of assistance work at the 40-60 total rep range, doing stuff that I suck at/that increases the range of motion, and just add tons of mass to places that I have lost some mass/I could use more.

My pecs, quads, calves, back, and arms all could use more mass. (INB4 someone mentions that they are all beach muscles)

That’s pretty much all to mention. Run my circa-max cycles, keep hammering away at the shit that has made me strong, back off, lift heavy ass weight, go do stuff I’ve been neglecting or will keep me getting stronger in the long run.[/quote]

Building muscle is overlooked by a lot of people. I think for strongman it’s extremely important to have a very strong foundation. The contingencies of events at shows means you have to be as well rounded as possible. Being dexterous and technically savvy is critical but so is just being strong as fuck.

Part of why I’m doing my current training is just to get myself as statically strong as possible for competition. It really is very prudent to consider the off-season as more important than competition season just because of the stance of liberty you can take, whereas the competition season is often limiting to the confines of the shows demands, assuming you’re vying for placement. So you’re on the right track for sure. [/quote]
Thanks, mang. The way I view it is that you can only get so efficient and able to show the strength you have. You won’t be able to express a lot more strength while building muscle, but it will build a base, and help lead to sustained progress. It is also nice for aesthetic/muscle health reasons, you can have imbalances while still lifting perfectly fine with your style, at least until you start getting injuries related to it.

115

10/3/15

Max effort squat/deadlift day

2"ish deficit deadlifts
135X5
225X5
275X3
315X3
365X0 tried to use a belt, apparently belts and me doing deficit deadlifts are a thing that doesn’t mix
365X3 without belt
395X1 probably PR
425X1 this was a weight that was my max for about half a year when I was in an ungodly plateau, I specifically picked this weight because of that old plateau max.
445X1 smoke show, but I was starting to lose positioning. I could have done 460, but I would have been in a really shitty position. I’ll do it next time.

SLDL
225X8
275X8
295X6 mix between grip giving out and my glutes not being able to prevent false lockouts, I wanted 8.

plate chops
45X6 for 3 sets

pendlay rows
225X5
245X5 tried for another set at 245, but I didn’t have the strength left to budge the bar. My GPP is really shitty at the moment it seems.

Notes: Feeling strong as hell despite school making the whole lifting thing hard. I am going to experiment with switching back to beltless deadlifts after the meet. I feel like the belt gives me something to brace against, but it fucks with my positioning and makes it harder for me to get in just the right position and keep it. It seems to be worth a try, the worst that can happen is that I revert back to using a belt, and I have even more ab and back strength to use for… I don’t know, maybe injury prevention?

116

It’s all looking pretty good. You’ve got a meet in a week or so right? I’m looking forward to seeing how you go.

With DL, if you feel like you’re not getting much out of the belt there’s no reason to use it too much.

117

[quote]MarkKO wrote:
It’s all looking pretty good. You’ve got a meet in a week or so right? I’m looking forward to seeing how you go.

With DL, if you feel like you’re not getting much out of the belt there’s no reason to use it too much. [/quote]
Nope, about four weeks. And thanks, man. Don’t you also have a meet coming up really soon?

118

Man, you are lucky you get nothing out of a belt LOL. It’s an amazing thing to be able to frequent heavy pulls beltless. I used to be able to do that, but not anymore…

119

[quote]strongmanvinny wrote:
Man, you are lucky you get nothing out of a belt LOL. It’s an amazing thing to be able to frequent heavy pulls beltless. I used to be able to do that, but not anymore…[/quote]

Thanks. lol What happened to your ability to do that, was it just the weight getting too high, or did you have a bad injury to your spine?

120

[quote]Destrength wrote:

[quote]MarkKO wrote:
It’s all looking pretty good. You’ve got a meet in a week or so right? I’m looking forward to seeing how you go.

With DL, if you feel like you’re not getting much out of the belt there’s no reason to use it too much. [/quote]
Nope, about four weeks. And thanks, man. Don’t you also have a meet coming up really soon?[/quote]

Ah, right. Yes, this coming Sunday. Just did my equipment check. I think I’ve found the best way to wrap my knees too, and it isn’t too hard to do myself.