My Road to HI Strongest Man 2008

Training Powerlifting
1

This log is hopefully going to serve several purposes for me.

First off, I am going to hold myself accountable daily for nutrition, workouts, and supplementation.

Second, it should hold me accountable to actually going to the show and competing at a high level.

Third, it’s somewhat of a recovery log. I have been hurt much of the last 4 months with a shoulder injury. I recently found another ART practicioner who is closer, and accepts my insurance. I also like the guy. I am hopefull that with the combination of treatments and good prehab work, I can get it better.

Today started with a good breakfast. Going for my second ART treatment at 3, and have a me/re upper day planned for tonight. Also, I am getting back on the horse with supplements.

First shot of EQ and test e will be hit at 250/mg each. I have some other stuff on hand, but I am just going to start with these 2 compounds and go from there. Will post food log and workout at end of the day.

Monopoly

2

Awesome. This is gonna be interesting…

Good luck!!

3

Good luck man, you forgot to mention top spot in HI earns a pro card!! I’ll be following this.

4

Good ART session. He is 90% sure I have a torn or partially torn labrum, whoopee! Still, he hit some great spots on my rear delt, ac joint and bicep head.

Training was ok. No partners today.

flat db
35x15
50x15
60x10
70x10
85x7
This is the most weight I have been able to push in awhile. Pain was minimal, and shoulder felt more stable. BW of 224lbs.

Cable crossovers with handles at bottom position
40x15
50x15
50x15

barbell floor press
145x12
175x10
175x6
Front delts starting to take all the load. Shoulder was also sore/tired from all the ART that had been done. Had to keep trying different exercies to hit the pecs. Probably a bad idea to get it treated and then work it on the same day…

behind the neck db press
40x15
50x12
60x10
60x10

tricep pressdown with v-handles
a bunch of sets and reps, drop sets, etc.

weighted crunches (25lb plate) 4 sets of 10-15
coc #1 gripper, 3 sets. 15 reps right hand, 4 left. 8 reps right, 2 left and some partials, 5 right, partials on left.

Was just working on getting good contractions and reps. Nothing too explosive or crazy.

Food log today, not so hot. 3,500 cals, 345 grams of protien, 229 carbs, 127 fat. Felt like all I did was eat and I am 2500 cals short. Oh well, it’s a start.

Ice on the shoulder now, going to eat some cookies…

Monopoly

5

Shitty day capped off with a shitty leg workout. I seem to have forgotten how bad it sucks to train by yourself…

squat cleans
3x10 @ 135

front squats
135x15
185x12
185x12
225x10
lose briefs on
275x3-much harder than it should have been
225x6
135x11

leg press
3 per side at 15
5 per side at 12
6 per side at 12

reverse hyper
1 plate x 15
2 plates x 12
2 plates x 12

superset with

leg extension
2 plates x 15
4 plates x 16
4 plates x 9

Fast workout, done in less than 1 hour.

Found out events today. Log for reps (Yikes), stones, truck pull, farmers, yolk and tire flip. The tire, stones, and farmers are all pretty good for me. Truck pull should be good, yolk is questionable, and log is going to suck.

Food for the day, this was shitty as well…

4099 cals
164 fat grams
374 carb grams
242 protien grams

I’m going to have a drink.

Monopoly

6

Better day of training today. Left work at 4:15 as opposed to 5:15, and I had a ton more energy.

Face pulls
20x30lbs
15x50lbs
15x60lbs
15x75lbs
12x125lbs

Hammer strength high row machine
15x2 plates
12x4 plates
10x5 plates
didn’t feel good, switched

bent over barbell rows
135x15
190x15
225x12
275x10
275x8
190x8

close grip pulldowns
150x20
175x12
190x8

superset with

nuetral grip low pully row
180x10
200x8
200x6

overhead shrugs
barx15
70x12
70x12
70x10

log bicep curl (70lbs)
logx15
logx12
logx11

farmers hold @ 150 per hand
2 sets of as long as I could go…

reverse preacher curl
45x18
65x8
65x5

hyperextensions
2 sets of 12

Legs are fried from yesterday actually.

Food was better today, still light on protien. Need more milk, another shake and another meal.

total cals 4711
fat grams 225
carb grams 341
protien 325

Monopoly

7

No turning back, plane tickets have been purchased. I don’t think I have ever planned something this far ahead, and I am freaking hating it.

Off day for training. Legs are still very sore.

I have another ART sessions tomorrow, and my shoulder is tender so hopefully it helps. I need to start work on the log Saturday.

Slammed at work today, and didn’t manage to get much food down. I just ate a huge dinner, but not sure how much I am going to be able to cram before dinner. I also made the mistake of going to the store while hungry. 80 bucks later I had dinner and a boat load of junk. That’s the fun part of bulking.

cals 3700
fat grams 157
carbs 225
protien 277 ick

grocery bills suck

Monopoly

8

12/14 Friday

Day off. Lots of real food today, needed another shake though. Had 4th ART session, felt good again.

Hit another test e @ 250 and eq @ 300.

Cals 4400
Fat 190
carbs 490
pro 260

12/15 Saturday

Event day. Hard to do full on events, we have about 3in of snow on the ground outside.

snatch
135x5
135x5
165x4
180x1
190xmiss
190xmiss

log of death. I hate the log
log (90lbs) clean and press each rep for (entire set) 15
180x10
230xmiss, I could not press this out for the life of me. It felt stupid heavy on my chest. This is what I get for not training with the log for 4 months.
180x7
180x8
180x5
180x6

zercher pickups from first pin position (low) trying to simulate stones here
135x6
175x6
225x6
275x2

farmers holds
200lb per hand for 2 sets of 15 seconds, horrible!
100lb per hand 1 set of 60 seconds

seated overhead band press
roughly 6 sets of 7-4 reps with green bands

Spent. I am jacked up, and my work capacity is horrid at the moment. Good news is that the only time my shoulder acted up was during my missed snatches. Log and press felt better than they have in a while.

Monopoly

9

12/16 Sunday
Off day. I was worthless as well due to a hard Saturday night. I wasn’t out of bed for more than a couple hours and had to force myself to eat. I can no longer handle the booze I used too…

12/17 Monday
What a day! Virtually pain free training session. Had an ECA with coffee, and was at the gym by 4:45 training. Had four of us today and it was great.

Weight was 228, up 4lbs from last Monday.

ME/RE Upper
flat barbell
135x15
135x15
185x12
225x8
added foam roller to press off of (manpoon press)
275x2-felt great
315x1-easy, had more in me but I didn’t want to push the shoulder
185x14 to chest, freakin awesome for me!!

incline db
60x12
70x10
80x9
added monster mini band (red)
45x13
50x11
again, this is great. the 80lbs were very strict, and then I went super explosive with the mini band. again, almost pain free.

low pully cable crossover
35x15
40x15
55x8
45x12

decline skull crushers to nose
75x12
75x12
95x10
125x4-stop, shoulder starting to feel it

face pulls
40x15
55x15
55x12
75x12

superset with

rope pushdowns
60x14
70x12
70x10
90x10, then rest/pause shitty form til failure

foam rolling/stretching for 10 minutes

again, I cannot get over how much better today went. Never underestimate the power of good music, good training partners, food and ECA :slight_smile:

nutrition for the day. I love fitday, just goes to show that when you think your eating, your not.

cals 3245
fat 126
carbs 200
pro 326

Looking forward to legs tomorrow. Maybe max squat with gear?

Monopoly

10

Very motivating. Keep it up. What is an “ART session” anyways?

11

[quote]hit the gym wrote:
Very motivating. Keep it up. What is an “ART session” anyways?[/quote]

It’s essentially soft tissue manipulation. I would tell anyone with an injury to give it a go. Thanks as well.

Monopoly

12

12/18 Monday

Not really the day I was wanting. I may have been a bit shot from Saturday and Monday sessions. Had a hard time getting up for the workout, and I really only had good focus and anger for one squat. Probably should have switched to something else, but I was being stubborn

barx20
135x15
185x15
225x10
275x8 add 16in box
315x5
375x2 add loose briefs
405x1 lost air at the bottom, came forward but still made the lift. I was pissed at this and decided to add suit with straps down
495xmiss didn’t get up for this one. I was very pissed and went straight to
455x1 easy lift
495x1 put straps up, couldn’t get down to box

This was a BAD squat workout for me. I need to spend more time in just the suit I think, as I’m not comfy at all and am probably too weak for it, lol. I love using the briefs, and they make my hips feel really good and are offering a little support. They are so big right now I’m not sure how much I’m getting out of them.

Rack supported lifts/lockouts. Not sure what you want to call these. We set it up in the power rack so the bar is the same height as a yoke pickup would be and then just hold for 10 seconds. Worked up to 685 beltless and felt pretty good.

Leg press
5 plates x 15
6 plates x 12
6 plates x 12

superset with

straight leg deads
135x12
135x12
135x10

Then did some ab work, but I was toast. Didn’t eat enough and I still have not logged my foods yet. We normally do back/bi’s today, but I think I am going to hit it tomorrow as I am still wasted this morning. I did have a great breakfast of biscuts with gravy and eggs though!

Monopoly

13

12/20

Not a bad day. We had our Christmas lunch, so I gourged myself on high quality free food. Good times. Pinned another 300mgs of eq along with 250 of test e.

giant set

standing laterals

seated shoulder hammer machine press

seated lateral machine

face pulls

went through this rotation for 5 times, all exercises at 10 reps

overhead shrugs, 3 sets of 8 at 70lbs

superset, 3 rotations
lat pull down with
one arm dumbell preacher curls

superset, 3 rotations
log curl (90lbs)with
close grip seated row

done. good workout, quick pace and nothing hurt!

nutrition

4650 cals
170 fat
352 carbs
355 protein

Monopoly

14

12/21 Friday

Bad day all the way around. Got my ass kicked at work, didn’t train, and didn’t eat enough. I about had some serious rage on a guy at the parking lot who flipped me off and kept honking his horn.

12/22 Saturday, Event Day!!

This was a great day for me. Again, no pain, everything felt pretty strong, and it was some progress.

Farmer deadlifts off 4in platform. Trying to simulate VERY low pickup here.
225x10 (all weight is total weight)
225x5
325x5
425x3
455x3
495x1

take box away

560x1 easy, held for a good 10 seconds at the top and had tons left. This is great news as the weight is 550 total at the show, and I can already pick it easy.

425x8 off the floor, good rep work, no pain.

sandbag pick and clean (again, trying to simulate stones)
150x8
200x6
250ish? Me and my boy went back and forth till one of us dropped. I made 9 reps I think and my back was twinging, so I called he. He banged out 3 more, fucker.

Seated log overhead lockouts (log at just above eye level)
130x10
180x7?
230x3
230x2-stupid hard, took FOREVER to put the 2nd one up…
180x10-great set

one arm db snatch to full squat
40x12
40x12

Toast. I have not logged foods yet today, but I have put a pile down. I just realized this morning that I only have 9 weeks left, which is a scary thought. I need to quit dicking around. I will prob go higher on doses next week and add adrol at 50mgs per day. I am also going to try and make a yoke between now and new years, as I need to practice on it badly.

Monopoly

15

12/23
Off day. Just relaxed, and ate.

12/24
Bodyweight - 230lbs, up 2lbs from last Monday
ME/RE upper
flat barbell
135x15
185x12
225x5 to 2 board
275x5 to 2 board
315x1 to 4 board-light weight
365x miss to 4 board
350x1 to 4 board, nailed it!
225x13 to 1 board, great!

Much stronger than last week, and still pain free. I almost tried for the 365 again, but it can wait…

superset (3 circuts)

hammer strength flat x 10 reps
hammer strength decline x 10 reps

dip machine
3 sets of 10 very slow and controlled

dumbell french press (behind neck)
55x12
75x10
100x8
100x9

superset
v-bar pushdowns with
face pulls

bunch of sets and reps here

ab work
stretching

Overall, good day. More pain than last Monday, but that’s what I get for not having my ART session. Shoulder is still only about 75% there…

Nutrition
Off to a good start. Have some family stuff to do tonight, so I should be able to pile a bunch more down. Merry Christmas to everyone, looking forward to Wend workout…

Monopoly

16

12/26

Day started off pretty shitty, and ended up decent. I think I am getting sick, both my gf and dad have been sick in the past week, so I am just waiting. Yesterday I was starting to feel it. I REALLY did not want to train, but I sucked up some coffee, blared some music and trudged in. Ended up going better than I thought it would.

full snatch
barx10
100x8
100x4
125x3
165x3
I kept working with this weight. Either I missed to the front, or it felt so easy I wanted to add another 50lbs.

power squat with pushpress superset with hack squat. 4 circuts here with 8-12 rep range.

Legs are now jello…

seated good morning
barx10
135x10
185x6

Done. Went home and ate, and ate, and ate some more during a 4 hour marathon of the 07 WSM. Good times. And no, I did not log my foods, I HAVE to start this again today.

Monopoly

17

My computer has crashed at home, so posting has been tougher for me. Have not slacked on workouts, I will do my best to catch it all up now.

12/27
RE/DE upper
pull ups
5 sets of 7-10

chest supported db row
50x15
65x12
75x10
100x8-starting to twinge shoulder, went back to 60’s with very strict form

tri set
high row
low row
pullover machine-3 circuts, all at approx 10 reps

db shoulder press
40x10
50x10
60x8
60x10

log curl (90lbs)
logx15
logx12
logx12

some other shoulder/bicep and ab stuff I can’t remember. Bad workout, my boy asked me to take off work early, and I didn’t want to.

12/28-off day, Friday. I did eat a buttload including one of the biggest dinners I have put down in a while. 3 18oz beers, bread, full rack of ribs, house salad, fries, then 10 oz of country fried chicken with mashed taters and veggies. I think I pooped 4 times the next day…

12/29-Saturday, event day!
Went down to another gym that has strongman. They have some different equipment than us, and they have a stone setup inside. Good group of guys to train with.

stones (all to 54" platform)
240x3 no tacky
240x4 no tacky
280x2 no tacky
300x2 tacky (this was really weird stuff, much lighter and much less than I usually use. they said it was stuff that they use in highland games comps?)
325x2
350xmiss, I was about a goddamn inch away from loading this thing.
240x8, good work. Not too bad considering I haven’t trained stones in about 6 months…

log (10in)
180x5
180x3
215x3
215x4
215x4
Working on going back to a split with the log. It felt better today than last time, but still far too heavy.

farmers
200/hand for 260ft
250/hand for 130ft, rest 30 seconds, another 130ft back.
Happy with this as well. Stones and farmers are on track, the rest of events are ugly. I also tweaked my back pretty good on the missed 350 stone, then on the log, and then toasted it off with farmers.

12/30 Sunday
Recovery/assistance workout
foam rolling/stretching for 10 minutes

seated db shoulder press
30x12 (3 sets)

reverse hyper
platex12 (3 sets)

pull throughs
100x12 (3 sets)

face pulls
75x12 (3 sets)

pushdowns
100x15 (3 sets)

db hammer curl
20x12 (3 sets)

front raises
8x15 (3 sets)

lat pulldown
100x12 (3 sets)

crunches
15 reps (3 sets)

15 minutes of cardio. Back feels better after stretching and doing some light work, but still off.

Should have a couple good workouts over the next couple days. I am not going to venture out tonight as I simply cannot afford to have a poor day of eating and training tomorrow. This will be the first new years that I spend at home! I must be getting old.

Monopoly

18

12/31

Had ART done today on shoulder and back. Back feeling much better. I guess I should have just left the shoulder alone. Even though it only felt about 80%, I seem to have pissed it off and as a result paid badly for it in my workout.

ME/RE upper
Incline barbell
135x12
135x12
185x10
225x5
225x5
225x5

Reverse band barbell bench (green bands)
225x8
315x6
375x3
375x3
275x8

flat db flys
25x15
45x10
45x8

seated military rack lockouts (bar at top of head)
135x10
185x8
225x8
225x6-strip to
135x8-toast, these felt really good

v-bar pushdowns-superset with face pulls. 4 sets of 10 for each

abs

Shoulder was bad all day. Could not be explosive on anything, probably should have just called it.

1/1/07
DE/RE lower
Cleans from box-these felt so horrible today, words escape me…
135x6
135x3
135x3
205x2-called it

front squats
135x12
185x10
225x6
275x3
275x3
275x3
These went much better than last time. My back is still fucked up from Saturday, went belt only and was stronger by far. I really wanted to go heavier and put the briefs on, but thankfully my partner talked me out of it.

power runner (very hard to describe, but it simulates a truck pull pretty well)
4 plates x 15 seconds
6 plates x 30 seconds
4 plates x 35 seconds-toast, legs are shot

abs

Computer is still down at home so I have been trying to log everything and catch back up at work. This includes happy time as I realize I have a daily addiction.

Monopoly

19

1/2/07 off day, good eating however

1/3/07 off day, shit eating

1/4/07
off to a good start so far. Had a big breakfast and then someone brought doughnuts into work, so coffee and sugar high for me! Pinned 300 sust, 300 eq this morning. The test may be starting to kick a little. I have not noticed much of a change other than sex drive is starting to go up a little bit, or in my case back to normal.

I was able to pucharse all the materials needed for my yoke on Tuesday, and started working on it last night. Hopefully it’s done by Sunday, I will take some pics when it’s finished. Going to train arms tonight, then events tomorrow. I have another ART session here in an hour, so hopefully it gets the back and shoulder a little better so I can fuck them up again.

Events keep changing for the show. The latest are…

Tire flip(1000-1200lbs) 75-90ft
Farmers walk (275/hand) for 100ft
Yoke (850lbs) for for 75-90ft
Truck pull with rope
Log, clean and press for max reps (275lbs)
Stones, 250-355lbs

As of now, I really need to win farmers and stones. The truck pull should go well for me. Yoke is an unknow as of now. The log is going to make me a bitch. Tire is another question mark, I have not flipped a tire that heavey before. I am supposed to work with a 1000lber tomorrow, so that should be fun

Monopoly

20

1/4/07
Arms! True bb workout, and I got smoked.

reverse grip smith machine bp
skullcrushers
pushdowns

standing bicep curl superset with
pull ups-this was a bitch

preacher curls
hammer curls

Workout took just at an hour for arms, I am still sore on Monday.

1/5/07 Event day!

stones
240x5
240x5
290x3
325x2
350x1
350x1
290x6

This was good and bad. I nailed the 350 after missing last week. 290x6 was also good, but on the 6th rep something popped in my right knee on the bottom position after I had the stone lapped. I just put my inzer sleeve on tight and kept going. More on this later…

tire
700x6
700x6
700x5
1000x1-this was so fucking heavy
700/5

killer superset
deadlift @ 315
squat @ 225 with chains
pushpress @ 135

This was done in circut fashion with no rest at 10 reps in each lift. I made it through twice and my back and knee were cooked. Even if this would not have been the case, I probably would have been done.

So, I got the 350 stone which was progress. I flipped the 1000lb tire, once. This is good and bad as I only have to flip a similar tire over 10 reps in my show, so that’s not much to ask for in 7 weeks.

Sunday I wake up and find my right knee is filled with fluid, probably 30% bigger than my left. Not really any pain, but swollen and limited range of motion. I have been iceing and keeping it up, but prognosis is not good. It is in a similar state today. I guess I will just try to stay off it and keep resting/iceing until wendsay and go from there. Any advice is welcomed.

At the moment, my right trap, both shoulders, left elbow, left wrist, back, and right knee are fucked up. God bless strongman…

Monopoly