Maple Syrup Strength (littlesleeper)

Training Training Logs
364

HAHAHA, WHAT?! That’s just hilarious. As if having 200lb bags of sand lying around isn’t enough, it gets frozen to the fucking ground.

I remember in like 2012, the 700lb tire I have was kept up standing when I stored it, and two teenage girls, in a ditzy stupor, managed to roll it out of my yard in combined efforts, and out into the street in front of my house. I came outside with my head so full of fuck that I didn’t even know what to say. They didn’t either. It was something like “Hahahahahhhhhhhhhhhh we didn’t know xD lul!!! rawr!!!”. Was just…yeah.

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365

01/18/2016

Well I’m still out of town for work and definitely not following any sort of diet protocol for these days. I did get to the pool twice yesterday for a total of 80laps (hotel pool, so not overly long) and spent some time in the hot tub. I plan to hit the little fitness room for some unilateral work with some sub 50lb dumbbells tonight after work and before shenanigans.

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01/18/2016

Went down to the little fitness room and did:

Superset

DB OHP
25lbs x 10
40 x 10
50 x 10 x 3

DB Rear Elevated Split Squat
25lbs x 10
40 x 10
50 x 10 x 3

Superset

DB Rear Delt Fly
12.5lbs x 20 x 3

DB Single Arm Row
50lbs x 20 x 3

Superset

DB Incline Chest Fly
50lbs x 10 x 3

DB Single Leg RDL
50lbs x 10 x 3

Actually flew threw this workout and I was pretty tired afterwards. I think drinking and the lack of sleep is catching up. Now for some post workout carbs. $5 pints and half price wings within walking distance. Wish me luck.

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Haha nice! I get $60/day for food. Usually $10-15 for daily food and the rest is a nice whiskey.

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We were just increased from $40 to $45 this year and are no longer required to submit our receipts which is nice. I would feel bad for the waitress, 8 guys out for dinner and drinks and she asks if we want it all on on bill…no actually we will need 16 receipts with the beer on separate receipts lol that is no longer the case which is good.

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01/21/2017

5/3/1 Sleeper’s Modified Strongman Program

Week 1 Day 2

Axle Continental Clean (No Press)
95 x 5
115 x 3
135 x 3
155 x 3
175 x 3
195 x 3

These were tough. The deadlifting/pulling up to the chest isn’t a big deal, but leaning back, bracing as hard as humanly possible, switching grip and kicking the bar up to your shoulders isn’t a pretty or smooth movement. I think I was hitting a decent shade of purple on each of these reps…I’m going to have to learn where and when is the best place to breathe during a rep, if at all.
After this workout my back was feeling a little sore, no injury or anything, just like something I haven’t really put it through before. These are going to be tough as they get heavier.

Axle Deadlifts
115 x 5
205 x 5
295 x 5
345 x 5
405 x 5
455 x 5

Wow, these felt HEAVY. The set at 295lbs felt like I was approaching a top set rather than still ramping up. I was able to eek out my prescribed reps, but I had to put a lot more into it than I would have liked to. I think this was a combination of my back being a little beat up from the continentals, the use of the axle on deads that I’m not used to and the fact that last week was a deload and this week I was unhealthy and away on course all week. Going to take me a bit to get myself back into the heavy lifting groove again.

Axle Z-Press
75 x 10
115 x 10
135 x 8
135 x 8

Superset
DB Hammer Curl
40lbs x 15
40lbs x 12
40lbs x 12

Back Extensions
20, 20

Overall it was a decent workout. I’m technically a day behind here with my travelling for work this week. I think I’m going to try and get this Day 3 workout in tomorrow morning. I was hoping to do it today but my back might need a bit more rest before hitting log clean and presses tomorrow.

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I’m so glad I’ve never had to post receipts. I have a habit of throwing important receipts away immediately.

What do you do that’s causing you to travel so much?

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Yes, keeping receipts is definitely less than ideal.

Typically in the winter we are encouraged to travel a lot for different training opportunities as we do not have as much work on the go. I work mainly within the Construction Industry and I’m the guy with the white construction hat watching others work lol

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We have similar jobs it seems.

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01/22/2016

5/3/1 Sleeper’s Modified Strongman Program

Week 1 Day 3

SSB Squat
45 x 10
135 x 10
205 x 10
205 x 10
205 x 10
205 x 10
205 x 10

These weren’t all that difficult. The higher reps with short rest periods (10 band pullaparts, 10 band dislocates, 10 band facepulls) had my quads tired and sweat starting. Good way to start the workout.

Log Clean (once) and Press
85 x 5
115 x 5
135 x 5
155 x 5
175 x 5
185 x 10

Well I had a bit of a “aha” moment during these sets. Well more of a “duh” moment I suppose, I had just never really thought about it before.

The continental clean seems to have a TON of carry over to the Log Clean and Press. I’m actually not talking about the clean part (although, in this part of the movement, carry over is somewhat obvious). I’m talking about the holding of the log in the front position on your chest as you try and stabilize before your next press.

There were a couple times during the 185lb set where the weight started getting a little off my centre of gravity and I was able to REALLY lock my core down and settle the weight back to my chest without losing the tightness. It honestly didn’t feel that difficult to lock the core in on these, and I am going to attribute that to how friggin’ hard you have to brace for the continental cleans during your grip switch. The bracing difficulty of the log press relative to the continental clean seemed low to me which really made me feel strong in this lift today. This could also partly be attributed to the sub-maximal weight I was using for this 5’s week…

But anyway, there is my little @MarkKO rant for the day :wink:

Superset
Meadows Row
45 x 20
60 x 20
60 x 20

DB Seated Military Press
70 x 12
70 x 12
70 x 12

Superset
Neck Harness
25 x 20 ← felt the neck burning a little too much so I dialed back the volume. Last thing I want is to miss a workout because I strained my neck doing this.
25 x 12
25 x 10

Hanging Leg Raises
10 Toes-to-Bar
10 Leg Raise
10 Leg Raise

I feel with this exercise I’m able to hit my abs a lot better with simple leg raises. Toes-to-bar seems to engage too many other muscles to perform this movement and I don’t feel I get much out of them. Also, my lack of shoulder mobility tends to rear its ugly head when performing the toes-to-bar.

Good workout. I’m not looking forward to my weigh in tomorrow morning. It hasn’t been a great week, nutritionally. We shall see if the additional cardio I sprinkled in throughout the week helped to counteract this!

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It’s a good rant.

I kind of get this, but then when I do STB my abs tire WAY faster.

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01/23/2017

AM: Woke up this morning at 209.2lbs, somehow. Happy to still have lost weight this week even though the diet was sub-par. I wasn’t eating healthy, but there weren’t many times where I ate until I was very full, which I was previously in a caloric surplus. So overall I guess the actual calories in may have been less than what I expected.

5 Likes
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01/23/2017

5/3/1 Sleeper’s Modified Strongman Program

Week 2 Day 1

Squat
135 x 5
225 x 5
255 x 5
335 x 3
375 x 3
425 x 5

I wasn’t sure how these were going to go today as my legs were feeling a little tired from yesterday’s SSB squat volume. Ended up going OK. After hitting the large PR squat at the beginning of the year my squat confidence is much better. 425 used to be a weight that felt REALLY heavy on my back, but it didn’t feel bad today.

Axle Bench Press
135 x 5
185 x 5
205 x 5
245 x 5
275 x 5
305 x 7

I was happy with hitting 7 with that weight. It wasn’t too long ago that 315 was a 1RM, nice to see the bench numbers moving in the right direction.

Superset
Dips + 25lbs
20
15
12

Neutral Grip Chins + 25lbs
10
8
6 then dropped belt and hit 4 with just BW

Superset
Neck Harness + 25lbs
12
12
12

Ab Wheel Rollout
10 (Standing: 4, From Knees 6)
10 (Standing: 2, From Knees 8)
10 (Standing: 2, From Knees 8)

Decent workout. Expecting some DOMS in my legs tomorrow as I haven’t squatted two day in a row in a long time. Looking forward to the DOMS in a weird way, it’s been awhile.

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Just a little vid of my top sets since I haven’t posted one in a few weeks.

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01/24/2017

AM:
I was planning to do some cardio this morning, but I may have slept through my alarm. Still went down and threw the 50lb weight vest on for a quick 5mins on the treadmill followed by 5mins of foam rolling…so better than nothing I suppose.

I also see that some details on my first competition have been posted. This isn’t a sanctioned event, just put on by a nearby Strongman Gym (~45-60min drive from me) so there are no weight classes. Everyone competes together…

It is held at a local Canada Day celebration, so should be a decent amount of spectators who are there to see everything else that is going on that day.

Friday, July 1, 2016
1:00pm 5:00pm

Any footwear is allowed.

Fire Hydrant Press:
Competitors will press a 200 lb. fire hydrant overhead for reps in 60 seconds. Elbows must be locked out. Time stops at 60 seconds or when the fire hydrant is set down.

Conan’s Wheel
Ascending weight style. Athlete must complete a 360 degree turn with the Conan’s wheel in 20 seconds to move to the next round. Implement starts at 355 lb. and goes to 655 lb. Placings will be determined by time with the heaviest weight completed. If no one completes the heaviest weight, or there is a tie, the lowest cumulative time of all rounds will result in the highest score.

Loading medley
Competitors must carry implements 350’ and load over bar for fastest time. 60 second time limit. The implements are: 170 lb. anvil, 200 lb. keg, 200 lb. fire hydrant.

Yoke and Sled Drag Medley - total 100’, 90 second time limit.
Walk a 500 lb. yoke for 30’, drop it load the sled as you go at 20’ increments with the following objects:
170 lb. anvil
200 lb. keg
200 lb. fire hydrant.

Bus Pull
Harness bus pull for 100’. Any footwear allowed. 60 second time limit.

Current Thoughts on the Events
Fire Hydrant Press:
I have a fire hydrant at home but I think it only weighs 155lbs. This will at least allow me to be familiar with the lifting of the awkward shaped implement. I’m not too worried about this event as static overhead pressing is something I’m fairly comfortable with.

Conan’s Wheel
Having never tried one, this one defeat me. Closer to the competition I’ll likely start adding in some zercher carries. I may contact the gym owner to see if I can make it out to his gym a few times to trial run some of this equipment.

Loading medley
I really hope that 350’ was a typo in the event description…
Carries are not a strength of mine, but I will be starting to add these in as bonus workouts on my weekends.

Yoke and Sled Drag Medley
These will likely not be my strength either. I really need to work on my events where lactic acid can be a limiting factor. Pushing/pulling sleds of any sort blow my quads up to the point of 0 power generation in a short period of time. Will need to add these in on my weekends when weather permits.

Bus Pull
Not a clue to be honest. I just hope I can move it!

So overall, it looks like I don’t have a freakin’ clue. I will try and get in contact with the gym owner and see if I can meet them for a strongman workout a few times before the competition.

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@flipcollar might have some thoughts.

380

Awesome news about the competition! It seems like the events favor more athletic strongmen while the heavy static strength guys fall off the wagon there.
Unfortunately I have no experience with any of those events.
I wish you the best of luck for your prep, mate!

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Thanks man! Overall, I would say I’m decently athletic (I have played sports my entire life) and I will also likely be one of the smaller guys in the field, so this could work to my advantage for speed. However (big however), the implements could just simply be too heavy for me to really handle. As I said before, I hope to get in touch with the gym that is putting on the competition and at least get some time under some of these implements before the actual competition.

382

I do have some thoughts!

Are there weight classes involved? I generally compete in the under 200lbs weight class, and based on your bodyweight, I would assume you’d basically be a heavy 200 lbs guy (a little water cut would get you there). But you said you’re on the smaller end of the spectrum. If there are no weight classes, this would be a fairly light show. If these are the prescribed weights for the 200 class, this is a medium to heavy show.

I’ve done some of these things in competition. I did Conan’s wheel at 500 lbs for max distance back in August, and will be doing exactly the same wheel in March. The toughest part is breathing. It feels like it’s crushing your diaphragm. Do your best, if you can practice with the implement, to find a way to hold it in a way that doesn’t kill your ability to breathe. And short fast breaths are key. Really push yourself to do this, otherwise you may hold your breath accidentally. I hate this event, but I don’t think I’m terrible at it. Another key on it is not dropping the implement until you are ABSOLUTELY gassed. It’s an event that’s really about mental toughness.

I also hope the loading is not 350’. I doubt it is, that seems utterly insane.

That yoke is relatively heavy but should be manageable, particularly over such a short distance. I have no idea how hard the sled will be. Depends on the type of sled. At least the distance isn’t bad on that part either.

I’ve only done one harness pull, it was years ago, and I sucked. I can tell you that you want to get as close to horizontal with your body positioning as possible. Wear rock climbing shoes if you can.

A 200 lbs fire hydrant shouldn’t be that bad. If you can’t practice with a 200 lbs hydrant, a keg would be similar enough. Your other pressing practice should translate well enough, it’s just a slightly different technique.

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383

Nope, this is a every man battle regardless of weight.

I’m sure this is intentional as it is just for a Canada Day event, and they are likely trying to make it as inclusive and not intimidating as possible.

Well this is promising for at least being able to do a revolution of the 355lb wheel, I’m assuming they will be jumping up 100lbs per round until maxing at 655lbs…which I likely won’t get to.

I found the competition last year where the distance was 35’, so I will assume that is the case again this year.

Good tip, thank you. I’ll likely pull my truck out on a flat spot in my yard and try some harness pulling to attempt to at least get a feel for it.

This is probably the only even that I feel remotely comfortable in. I have a 155lb hydrant, so at least I’ll get familiar with the awkward shape, and I have a keg that I could fill up and adjust closer and closer to contest weight as I progress.

I appreciate you taking the time to give me some pointers!

1 Like