After about ten months, i guess it’s time to update the old log once again. Occasion: Did another competition yesterday. The comp I mentioned in the post above in October of '21 didn’t happen, so this was my second competition, almost a year after my first one I talked about three posts above.
Training in between these comps has not always been as consistent as I’d liked. A small kid and work demands have meant less training than I would’ve wished for, but there have also been good stretches in there. I did Building the Monolith earlier this year and when the competition was announced (events unknown at this point) I started a simple training block along the lines of what I did last year, only difference being that I kept volume a little higher as the reps went down. Trained three times a week: A deadlift day, an overhead day and one “general hypertrophy” day around squatting, benching, rowing and a circle of different overhead variations. Throughout most of this, the weights for almost everything were just a bit higher than they were last year. When the events were announced 5 weeks out that third day turned into an events day.
The comp itself:
Felt well rested and in shape on the day. I was nervous on the drive but once I was there the nerves calmed down. The event was well-run, everything was done head-to-head and there was less downtime than I’d expected, which suited me fine.
Event 1: Log for reps
Had a choice between 80 and 100kg and opted for 80 since 100 is well out of range for me. Most I’d done in prep was singles with 80, PR is 80x2 from the last comp. I got 4, which I was quite happy with.
Event 2: Hand-over-hand Pull
This was new to basically everyone there. It was set up with a pulley system so you had to pull a weight (70kg) up to the sheave for reps in 75 seconds. I got five reps which landed me smack in the middle of the field, making this my best event. Not my favourite though, I can think of a bunch of ways to spend 75 seconds that would’ve been more fun. lost some skinn off my hands but others had it worse.
Event 3: 90kg Atlas Stone to Shoulder
I practiced this with a sandbag of similar weight. That wasn’t too difficult but I suspected that it might be a lot harder with a stone, which was true. I didn’t get the stone all the way up on my first try. The spotter shouted at me to get my hips into it which helped, of the next four or five attempts three were successful. A bunch of people zeroed, in terms of placing this was my second best discipline.
Event 4: Deadlift for reps
Choice was between 205 and 225kg. Same deal as with the log, had to go for the lighter weight. I would have been happy with three reps or so but got five, which I was really happy about.
Closing thoughts:
- I came in 23rd out of 32 competitors in total and 6th out of 7 in the 105’s. I’m not overly concerned with placings though, I just need to get stronger.
- The static lifts (overhead & dl) remain my biggest weakness. I’d like to see how I stack up in a loading medley against this kind of competition one day.
- I feel like my peak worked well. Heaviest I went for log was singles at 80kg in training, got 4 reps in comp. Deadlift, heaviest was singles at 200kg, got 5 reps at 205 in comp. And those training lifts did not feel easy.
- As mentioned: If weights in the 3rd league remain the same, I’d really like to be able to do the bigger weight choices next year. Absolutely doable on deadlifts, but still also a goal for overhead.
- Came in at 96kg (clothed), which is 3 kg more than last year. Eating is a chore, but I’ll continue to gain a bit more weight before it’s time to compete again.
- Speaking of competing again, I propably won’t do so this year. The remaining comps this year just don’t work out for me in terms of timing and distance.
- I feel a lot less destroyed than I did last time on the day after. That’s a big plus!
- A few pictures will follow when I have them.
Also thought the ref gave me the second rep but he didn’t. Doesn’t matter for the overall outcome.
