Fantastic effort, rewarded with some fantastic results.
That sandbag carry was so ugly it became a thing of beauty!
Really excited for this season!
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Really loved your āwhyā blog post this weekend!
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@tlgains I showed what you wrote to my wife and we both got a kick out of it: thanks so much!
@atlas13 Big props coming from you dude! You definitely know about dealing with that misery. Always great to have you in my corner.
@creative_name Thanks so much dude! Been so awesome watching you grow from here as well.
@alex_uk I love the way you described that! Time to GFH.
@TrainForPain Thanks so much man! Definitely took some inspiration from here for that, haha.
THE BACKGROUND
This competition was one I picked out after a July competition got canceled on me. It had similar events to the July comp, so the transition wasnāt too tough. The big thing was, it meant I spent a LOT of time in a more specific mode of training vs base building, and a LOT of time being skinny, as I donāt cut weight for competitions and therefore wanted to be able to comfortably show up within the 181lb class weigh in.
Iāll have to detail the specifics of the training phase sometime, as Iām really happy with how it turned out, but it was a multi-phased approach, starting out with getting out of DoggCrapp shape and into strongman shape, then re-developing skills, then developing max strength, and then a taper/deload. I showed up to the competition feeling good, and left feeling that way too. Been a LONG time since I felt that way.
I woke up STUPIDLY underweight, at 80.4kg, and that was after eating at a buffet the night before and weighing in at 79.1kg. So I had an awesome breakfast of 3 different steaks and 4 pastured eggs, drank a 30oz green tea and electrolyte mixture on the way to the comp, and still weighed in at 180.8 with clothes on. Mission accomplished: I showed up making weight and VERY well fed. And I didnāt need to eat for the entire competition with that meal, so that was awesome: one less thing to deal with.
THE EVENTS
EVENT 1: Last Man Standing Silver Dollar Deadlift
This was the event I was most concerned about, since my hip has been bothering me for a few weeks now. I showed up pretty late to the comp, and warm-ups were already pretty heavy. I stepped up to about 495 loaded, pulled it for a slow rep and felt my hip twinge a little bit, so I shut it down. Eventually, the women started warming up, and I jumped in on lighter weights and managed to pull pain free for a few reps there.
But all of this became a non-issue, as the guy I was competing against jumped in at the opener of 365, to which I waited until 405 was loaded. We were doing 10lb jumps, and they kept calling higher and higher. When it got to 425, the other competitor asked me āHow high are you going today?ā I said āI donāt knowā, because I genuinely had no plan (Chaos is, of course, the plan), to which he said āBecause Iām doneā.
ā¦well bleep. At first I was curious if he was playing some sort of game, but he seemed like a genuine dude, so I took him at his word. I took 455 just to get in a higher number, and felt my hip not feel great, and then I waited for 505 just to get a 500 pull, which was my third attempt and final. First place finish.
EVENT 2: Max Distance 40lb Sandbag Throw
A recurring theme for this comp was that I misread the weights for my training. I thought this was a 35lb throw, but it was actually 40. The 40lb bag here actually DID feel lighter than my 35lb bag at home though, so that was good. My training for this event to just get in throws whenever I could, Easy Strength style, but I never really tried to learn or study a technique for it. Watching people in the warm-ups, I saw techniques that made a LOT more sense than what I did in training, and decided I would abandon the plan as needed.
Youāll see my āplanā on my first throw: a two handed hammer throw style approach, which got me a paltry 16ā and some change. I needed to beat 25ā. So with that, I adopted the 1 handed style I saw other dudes using and got 22ā. So close! Tried it again for my third attempt, and it was apparently not as far as my second attempt: they didnāt tell me the distance. I lost this event, but at least I learned a better approach for the future.
EVENT 3: Axle Clean and Press Ladder (160-180-200lb axles)
This was the OTHER event where I misread the weights, thinking it was 150-170-190. I got 190 in training out of a rack, never off the floor, once again trying to work around my hip. This was also my first time trying out my Cerberus grip shirt. I honestly hate the idea of grip shirts, but I liked the design on it enough that I finally went and bought one.
The guy I was competing against struggled on the continental with the 200lb axle, and for a moment I thought he wasnāt going to get it, but he eventually popped it up and secured 3 reps. I approached 160 and it moved smooth enough. 180 felt heavier than I would have liked. And then I went for 200 and it was STUPIDLY heavy. I absolutely rested it on the belt for far longer than should be been allowed, and the grip shirt REALLY worked well, but I had to effectively limbo under the bar before it got into the rack position. I went for a press, got it part way up, and that was game over. My press has honestly fallen apart: it used to be one of the strongest parts of my game. Dropping my bodyweight definitely has an impact there, but I really just need to get back to basics and struggle under a bar. Iāve been doing a lot of dips because I like them and Iām good at them, but theyāre not what is going to build my press compared to just some hard pressing. At this point, Iād won 1 event and lost 2, which meant I had to win the next 2 events if I wanted to come home with a win.
EVENT 4: Max Distance 220lb sandbag carry
This was THE event I was most excited about, which sounds nutty to just about anyone else, but if you āknowā me, you know that I THRIVE in an environment where itās simply a question of who can deal with the most suffering. I read the rules so many times and they made it clear: as long as the sandbag doesnāt hit the floor, you can keep going. So I spent a LOT of time training on keeping the sandbag lapped and recovering. About the only thing that was of concern was my hip and knees, because picking up the bag and carrying it beat the hell out of them.
The other guy went first, which was a HUGE stroke of luck for me, because it meant I KNEW what I had to beat, vs having to just go for max distance. He went for near 3.5 laps of a 50ā track, and I had marked off his failure point in his mind, so I knew what I needed to do.
You can see in the video it was a slow and stable pick, and I tried to get the bag as high up as I could to allow my hips some mobility. I moved ok for the first 2 tripsā¦and then the most epic sandbag carry of all time happened. Like the Little Engine That Could, āI think I can I think I canā, I would just meander a few feet ahead, lap the bag, rest, regroup and go. The biggest issue I had to contend with is that the bag was getting slippery as I went, and slightly off center, so I wasnāt able to get great re-grips when Iād start again, resulting in shorter and shorter runsā¦but I NEVER stopped moving forward. I inched my was just ever so slightly past where I needed to be, and unfortunately the video cuts off before the very end, but I tossed the bag just a few extra feet from me to make sure I had it. In the end, I beat the other guy by 4.5ā, with a near 5 minute sandbag run. Iām sure I COULD have gone even further if I needed to, but thank goodness I didnāt, because I was SPENT after that. I made a noise like a set of dying bagpipies, and went and laid down. Also, I forgot to take off my fit tracker, and found out my heart rate got up to 160 during that event, which may not sound high, but when you factor in that my resting heart rate is 38, it meant I was pretty redlined.
EVENT 5: Farmerās Hold for Time (220lb per hand)
So now weāre tied: 2-2, meaning whoever won this final event won the competition. Iād been training for this event primarily by hanging from my chinning bar and doing a pull up every 30 seconds (something I stole from Dan John), with a once a week training where Iād actually hold onto a loaded up trap bar for time. My grip strength isnāt super awesome, but I was progressing well in training. But, really, the big thing was that this was ANOTHER event premised around āwho can endure the most suckā
I chalked up, set my grip, pulled slow, shut my eyes and immediately starting singing āSomewhat Damagedā in my head as a way to distract myself from the experience. With my eyes closed, I was listening, and I knew that, once I heard plates hit the floor, I was in the clear, but I ALSO knew Iād have to hold on for a few more seconds after that because we didnāt necessarily start EXACTLY at the same time. As I was holding, all I could think of was āI am NOT going to lose because of this eventā. Did it suck holding the handles? Yeahā¦but apparently it sucked more for the other guy, because I eventually heard the very noise I was waiting for. I stuck with the plan and held on for a few more secondsā¦which is what got me a state record! Previous record was 40 seconds, and I held on for 43. So I guess my grip strength IS ok.
WAY FORWARD
I donāt have any other strongman competitions on the horizon. I have a grappling competition on 8 Dec, with a top weight of 185lbs, so Iām not worried about making weight there. Itās clear my press needs to be brought up, and I need to not push my hip so hard that I break. I want to get back to basics and focus on growing muscle and getting stronger, because Iām definitely at a point of leanness where I can start growing, and with summer ending and a birthday, Thanksgiving, Christmas and a Cruise all approaching, Iām going to have an excellent opportunity to eat well.
For training, Iām planning on running the Tactical Barbell Mass Protocol. Reading the book got me excited about training, and it seems like what I need: basic and brutal. I like that it has an opportunity to focus on my chins as well, because theyāve degraded quite a bit, and the conditioning will suit me well. Nutritionally, Iām sticking with carnivore, and focusing on the meat and eggs and keeping the dairy on the low side. And on the meat side, focusing on ruminant animals vs monogastric.
I may continue to bust out some throws here and there, to keep them grooved, and occasionally Iāll allow myself some sort of stupid strongman WOD to scratch that itch, but for the most part, Iām excited about getting back to my roots.
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Hell yeah, way to go dude! 1 on 1 against someone in the same ballpark but with different strengths is such a great way to compete, in anything.
Last thing on the rifle - if you can find a way to set it on a level plane at home, use a piece of string and a small weight as a plumb line and shine a flashlight through the exit lens of your scope. The reticle will cast onto the plumb line so you can check at it is indeed mounted level. Your eye relief would be another thing to check as thatās all very individual (assuming Cabelas is not including you in the set up process here).
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Great write up Pwn, love hearing the thoughts in your head throughout the day. Awesome job on the result and truly motivating to watch you give 100%. That sandbag carry was a thing of stubborn beauty. Well done mate.
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Oh my goodness what a feast for the Valkyrie and I. Just got back from our Farm to Table event, where our appetizer was various smoked meats and cheeses, for dinner I had 8 chicken thighs, 3 drumsticks, about a pound of pulled pork, half a buttermilk biscuit about the size of a softball with raw honey and whipped butter, half an apple dumpling that looked amazing
And 1.5 smores made with homemade marshmallows
The precursor to Operation Conan is off to an incredible start
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@mr.v3lv3t Absolutely nailed it dude: it was definitely static vs dynamic with the two of us, haha. He could throw and explode on the press, and I was just low speed power. And thanks for that tip on the rifle! I have a lot to learn.
@simo74 Thanks so much dude! I got SO many props from the other competitors on that, haha.
AM WORKOUT (0405 natural wake up)
OPERATION CONAN: Recon and Scouting
Tactical Barbell Mass Protocol: Grey Man-Week 1, Day 1
MAIN WORK SUPERSET
Buffalo bar squats
4x8x285
Axle strict press from rack
3x8x123
6+1+1x123
SUPPLEMENTAL WORK GIANT SET
(3) DB incline bench
8x60
3x12x50
NG Chins
4x12 (took as long as necessary to get the reps in each set)
Standing ab wheel
3x10
SUPPLEMENTAL WORK STRAIGHT SETS
GHR
4x21
TOTAL TRAINING TIME: 52:30
BREAKFAST
Moderate walk w/dogs
Notes:
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First day of the new program, Iām calling this Recon and Scouting because Iām using this as an opportunity to assess where I am and what needs altering. Right away I discovered my max is too high on the DB bench, most likely because Iām accomplishing it right after the presses. My presses may be a hair too high, but resting longer might help. I got up earlier than usual, but had to attend to some GI distress due to yesterdayās feasting. I feel, absent of that, Iāll be able to give the adequate recovery time AND warm up time to make this viable, as my knee and hip were screaming at me on those squats, and I feel like I have the tools to make that NOT happen if Iām smart about it.
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The squats WERE tough, but more from a pain management perspective. I almost lost the second rep of the third set: felt myself fall forward with it. Being able to recover it and finish out the set is a good sign.
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I am violating my āmore trouble than I am worthā principles and pressing out of the rack. Taking lessons from history, my press was the strongest when I trained it out of the rack, and my time away from doing that got me weaker, so Iām going to swallow my pride and do what works.
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On that topic, treating GHRs as a single set exercise was a mistake. I got a ridiculous pump with those 4 straight sets. There is a lot of value in that.
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Itās incredibly humid, and combined with some carb sweats, I was soaked. I am also STILL quite full from that meal last night, so āOperation Conanā is off to the start with some fasting. Iām waiting until I feel hungry again. But Iāve been feasting since Friday, and Iām not too concerned about that.
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Which, on that note, when I woke up yesterday, I was feeling kinda fluish and had no appetite. Iām pretty sure that sandbag carry gave me a touch of CNS flu. I had a smaller breakfast, fasted through lunch, and absolutely feasted in the evening. Was an interesting experience.
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Sounds like you were competing against me! I might try this event this week. Looks really fun
You gave it your all on that one! Freaking brutal dude!
Congrats on the win and I know for a fact youāll be āMore trouble than you are worthā for your grappling comp in December!
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Your write ups are always so fun and vivid! It looked like a hell of a fight and afantastic showing of Chaos paying off.
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@freshyfresh Hey thanks so much dude! Absolutely left my soul out there on the bag. And that Silver Dollar pull is fun: SUPER bendy. Itās a weird angle.
@unicornsandrainbows Thank you! Means a lot you took the time to read it.
Been 18 hours since I ate and still not feeling any hunger. Most likely will push it to 20+ hours at this point and have dinner when I get home, as the Valkyrie will be less than pleased if I miss out on her outstanding bison meatloaf.
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Congrats Jared, you are (as always) the man
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@Panopticum Much appreciated dude! Always great to have you swing by.
Chaos is the plan. Valkyrie had to work late and had a rough day at work, so I warmed up a frozen lasgna for her and the kiddo and upped my omelete game with this
5 pastured eggs, grassfed ghee, grassfed burger patty, topped with swiss and grassfed sour cream. Not a bad way to break a fast.
Made this on my Ninja griddle. Love that toy
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@antiquity Oh man, I had something like that with my last gas grill and I loved it! I made so many breakfasts for dinners, haha. One of my favorite meals. Glad youāre enjoying yours!
AM WORKOUT (0406 natural wake up, snoozed until 0410)
OPERATION CONAN Recon and Scouting Phase
Reverse hyper
60x320lb
3 mile treadmill walk
3.5 mph and 4 incline first mile, 5 incline second, 6 incline final
BREAKFAST
Moderate walk w/dogs
Notes:
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My hip felt better when I woke up, but still stiff. I rolled it out this morning, which helped, but the reverse hypers were really pretty magical. Iām going to steal from Dan John for this protocol: āthe warm up IS the workoutā. Reverse hypers need to be one of the first things I do upon getting into the gym. Louie knew what he was doing when he built this machine. I actually had a co-worker ask me yesterday āDo you have a herniated disc?ā based on how I was walking, because he was similarly afflictedā¦and honestly thereās a fair chance the answer is āyesā. I have a physical coming up in Oct and can see about getting some imaging, but Iām happy I can find a way to get to yes in the interim. Without a competition to train for, thereās far less pressure to āget goodā, and I can use this training phase to really stretch my legs, settle in, groove some quality reps grow and heal.
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Which, on that note, this was an easier day of walking, similar to what I was doing right before the competition. It falls within the 30-60 minutes of walking that K. Black advises for the conditioning during General Mass, and is going to be my primary means moving forward. In truth, one of the big reasons is I have a LOT of Netflix to catch up on, and Iām genuinely enjoying watching it while I walk. Iāve spent so long enduring suffering in my training, and I put on display in this last comp that I still āgot itā, so I can take some time to find some joy while I train now. When I move to the specialization phase, I can suffer a little more.
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I got in an extra 2.3 mile walk yesterday while my kid was at a practice. Came in around 14k steps, and this morning I had 12k before 0730, so thatās pretty awesome.
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My hamstrings are SORE today. Those GHRs are really showing themselves.
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Going PSMF today until dinner, which is going to be some steak nachos with homemade nacho cheese (using goat cream cheese and tilimook shedder), using pork cracklin for chips. That should be anabolic. High in those super rare amiƱo acids.
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Tang Soo Do is on the schedule for tonight. Itās āWildcard weekā, and since we have a tournament coming up in the start of Oct, I imagine weāll be doing preparation for that. Iām going to do a creativity board breaking demonstration, which should be fun, and Iām signed up for a fair deal of sparring, which would be MORE fun if we were allowed contactā¦
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Just gonna keep posting the meals. This one was definitely ādirty carnivoreā, but it was fun for a family meal.
Carnivore steak nachos
I took some egg life wraps, cut them into triangles, sprayed them with duck fat and air fried them at 350 for 7 minutes to make the chips. I made nacho cheese out of 2 ounces of goat cream cheese, 1 cup of shredded tillamook cheddar, 1/3 cup of cream and some salt, melt in a microwave for 30 seconds, stir, then 30 seconds. Sour cream is grassfed, some shredded mexican cheese on top as well, and some sirloin cap steaks from Costco that I air fried with some duck fat spray and salt.
The original plan was to use pork cracklin instead of the egg life wraps, and I have a few down there for proof of concept, and the the Valkyrie made me some fried eggs, which I ate on top of the nachos so the yolk could run over them.
This was VERY satisfying.
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Ever make some kind of carnivore Taco Bell rip off?
I feel like thatās what this is, haha. In general, I try really hard NOT to make carnivore into fake foods, because I fell into that trap HARD with keto, but for family stuff this is fun. Iām thinking of doing a carnivore pizza sometime.
New gym toy I just pulled the trigger on
And it came with a free kickstand too. I legit think Iāll replace the axle curls with belt squats on day B once this arrives.
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AM WORKOUT (0410 wake up via alarm)
OPERATION CONAN: Recon and Scouting
Tactical Barbell Mass Protocol: Grey Man-Week 1, Day 1
WARM UP
50x180 reverse hyper
Sets of bench and trap bar pulls
MAIN WORK
Low handle trap bar pull
4x8x395
SUPERSET
Axle bench press
2x8x216
1x7x216
6+3(rest pause)x216
SUPPLEMENTAL CLUSTER (as a giant set)
Dips
4x12xBW
Chins
1x7
3x6
Axle curls
4x12x43lb
ASSISTANCE CIRCUIT (off camera, no rest between rounds)
Standing ab wheel
3x10
Reverse hyper
3x20x90
Band pull aparts
3x20
Total training time: 50:45
BREAKFAST
Moderate walk w/dogs
Notes:
-
I am really digging how long these sessions are running. Just about 40 minutes to get all the required work done, and then 10 minutes to myself to work the assistance. And in that, I AM keeping with the authorās recommendations, wherein he says to NOT add anything to the program in terms of curls, raises, etc, but if we want to do some core work, to include pull aparts, thatās fine. So here I am doing that.
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Still some GI issues this morning. Most likely nachos arenāt the best training fuel. Realistically, I imagine it was the egglife wraps that I turned into chips, as those are the most āprocessedā food that I eat. My kid brought up the idea of walking tacos/nacho bowls next time, and thatās pretty brilliant. I could just crumble up some pork cracklin there to get the crunch. But really, the only reason Iām bringing this up is that it limited my time just a touch.
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THAT said, I still made it a point to roll out my hip with the LAX ball before stepping into the gym, and then to warm up with those reverse hypers, and it was an absolute game changer. I started the workout with a lower back pump already, and though I experienced some minor hip pain, I was in a far better state than Monday. No hobbling. You can see me on the first set of the pulls that I am being VERY ginger and deliberate, with super controlled eccentrics, just getting a feel for things. Whatās unique about the pain is that Iām totally fine UNDER load, but when I rack/set down the weight, pain sets it. Definitely a nerve issue. Only experienced some pain on the final set of the trap bar pulls.
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Bench weight is a touch too heavy, and I even walked it down 5lbs from the original starting weight. Iām thinking a training max rather than a 1rm would be the better call here, despite what the author says, although thatās most likely because I employed a 1rm calculator vs actual testing, and as weāve seen, my ability to grind high reps definitely does not equate to my ability to hit max weights. Chins were also ambitious at 4x10: 4x6 was more within my capabilities. Again: recon and scouting. Got no ego here either: will lower things so I can build up. Donāt need to race to a stall.
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Kept rests close to a minute in the earlier sets, and then just as needed for later sets. Donāt need to be a āshort rest heroā here: need to get the reps.
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Tang Soo Do was actually a solid workout last night. Got in a lot of physical training, and we even worked some board breaks at the end. We used the plastic re-breakable boards, which are actually quite a bit tougher than real wood, since you have to hit them DEAD on center. I made it a point to use the same level of resistance as the black belts for every technique, and was able to break on my first try, which was awesome. Got another class tonight.
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Came out at 18.5k steps yesterday, and once again, thatās not counting any of the ones from work or TSD. Getting a new puppy has really upped my activity.
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Thinking about progression, K. Black says ā4-5 setsā in his instruction for the main work, and that just makes a lot of sense to me. I plan to run 2 3-week cycles back to back, and during that time I wonāt raise the maxes, but will instead transition from 4 sets to 5 sets. After that, THEN Iāll raise the maxes, and go back to 4 sets. This can allow me to progress while keeping the weight the same. Slow and steady.
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Had this pop in my head this morning and wanted to get it down here.
It dawned on me how easy the Velocity Diet makes carb cycling if one wants to go that route. Primarily because I realize this is effectively what Iāve been doing these past few weeks. I logged on Sunday the full on carby goodness I engaged in at an awesome āfarm to tableā event, which included homemade buttermilk biscuits with local honey, sweet corn, squash, sugary sauces, smores with homemade marshmallows, and apple dumplings in caramel sauce made from apples picked right off the orchid
and capped off with a homemade caramel. None of it junk, but absolutely carb heavy cuisine, especially for someone that stays primarily carnivore for all of my other meals. This was the day after my strongman competition, where I was QUITE carb depleted by the end of it,
and this morning (Wed), my abs were showing far more definition and fullness, and in general I was looking larger and leaner. This tends to be how this always goes after my weekly carb up meal, and Iām finding that, the more I lean into it, the better the outcome.
But where does Velocity come in? Because, ideally, Iāll make these carby meals my āHealthy Solid Mealā (HSM) of the dayā¦even if itās absolutely NOT āhealthyā. Theyāll still be my ONE meal of the day. And in this instance, itās a VERY high carb mealā¦but the rest of my day is JUST protein, with trace carbs and fats from Metabolic Drive. And the day after that high carb HSM? Iāll, once again, keep it Velocity, rely on shakes until I get to the end of the day, in which case I can decide if I want to have a higher fat meal or STILL keep it lean and make it more like a protein sparing modified fasting day (similar to how the OG Velocity Diet would operate, where it was one solid meal a WEEK vs a day).
If I WAS a carb eater, I could attempt to modulate the carbs in the HSM to have high, medium and low days and REALLY nail the whole ācarb cyclingā thing. As it stands, Iām more employing it like a [Cyclical Ketogenic Diet, which is also awesome. But along with this, what I dig is that this can still abide by the principles of Velocity Diet that you donāt need to do any counting or calculations to make this successful. IF, one restricts themselves to minimally processed carbohydrate sources (so stay away from breakfast cereal, ala Dave Tate), I feel they wonāt need to be concerned about overeating carbs and spilling out on the high carb day, but can STILL meet the intent of eating high carbs AND get the results of losing fat with Velocity. Quite literally have your cake and eat it too. If attempting to employ a āhigh-medium-lowā approach with carbs, I feel like the lever to pull is the fat in the HSM VIA the protein. If the goal is to eat MORE carbs, select a lean protein source (chicken breasts, shrimp, grassfed sirloin, tuna, etc). The protein will be less satiating, which will allow more carbs to be eaten. For medium days, medium fatty feats. For low carb days, VERY fatty meats. Heck, if you want to keep making this simple, just use ground beef. Use the 93-96% lean stuff on the high carb days, use the 80% stuff on the medium, and use the 70% stuff for the low day.
I feel like I could flesh this out a bit more, but I really dig where itās going.
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