My Road to HI Strongest Man 2008

Training Powerlifting
21

1/7/08 me/re upper

Good day overall, or as good as can be expected. Went to see my ART guy, he thinks the knee ok, probably a miniscus (sp?) tear, but otherwise okay. He did some cold laser with biofreeze, and then put some tape on in criss cross pattern that is supposed to help increase blood flow to get swelling down? He also worked on my shoulder and back. He just got in those massage sticks, so I broke down and bought one. I think this means I am getting desperate. After I got home and had an epson salt bath (even more desperate)followed by a contrast shower, I had my gf kill me with the stick. That thing kicks ass.

I still have not really been logging my foods, but I must be eating enough. I’m pooping like 4 times a day, and I weighed in at 240lbs today, a 7lb gain from last week! Anyways, I also trained today.

Seated log rack lockouts (log at eye level, slight incline)
log (90lbs)x12
logx12
140x10
180x10
230x6
230x6
270x2
180x9

flat bench with green bands off foam roller
10 reps
add quarters and chains
6 reps
8 reps
add purple band
6 reps
take quarters off, add plate
3 reps
This is the best setup I have ever used on bench. There was a buttload of tension at the top with the plate, 2 bands and chains. I love using the foam roller as it feels great on my shoulders, and I can be really explosive. Had good speed and smoked my tris.

flat hammer strength chest
plate x 20
2 plates x 12
2 plates x 12

one arm reverse grip pushdowns superset with v-bar pushdowns. Bunch of sets and reps to failure here.

face pulls
70x12
85x12
100x12-getting stronger here

Good day, minimal pain and good pumps. I will take today off on legs due to the knee. Will probably just go in and stretch, do some pull throughs, reverse hyper, etc. Hopefully the knee is good enough that I can do some event work this weekend.

Monopoly

22

well, I trained anyways. Talked to my art guy and he said go by feel.

box squats
100x10
100x10
135x10
135x10

reverse hyper
quarter x 15
quarter+plate x 15
quarter+2 plates x 12

pull throughs
4 sets of 12

bunch of ab and gripper work. squats were pain free, which is good. will see how it feels tomorrow

monopoly

23

You seem quite dedicated …keep up the good work !

24

1/9/08

Training sucked balls today.

I did get my shoulder, knee, and back worked on some more. It’s not really coming around like I want, but I am sure this is in large due to my training.

Superset
pulldowns and

seated rows with 2" tow rope

We should have stayed here the entire time, my back was friggen on fire.

superset
db rows and
hammer strength high row

superset
close grip ezcurl bar press and
one arm oly bar curls

superset
seated overhead rope ext with
hammer pully curls

Like I said, a shitty workout. Shoulder also bother me on pretty much everything, which sucks. None of us had any intensity or energy. We pretty much just ripped on each other and laughed for an hour. Better than nothing I suppose?

Monopoly

25

No training since last Wend. My partner had to go out of town on biz, and I was hurtin. Figured it would be good to rest the knee/back/shoulder in any event.

1/13 Sunday: Events

Warmed up a bunch today. Rode the bike, light squats, stretching, light overhead, etc. I felt pretty good by the time we started training.

cleans from box, worked up to 230 for a double. Had plenty left, but I didn’t want to push anything and had yoke next.

Yoke: The build turned out pretty well, I will have to post some pics of it. I used 3" pipe for the bar, and it’s too big. I am going to have to redo it at 2.5". Other than that, it’s pretty solid. Dry weight is approx 200lbs.

400lbs for 150ft
500lbs for 150ft
560lbs for 70ft
660lbs for 40ft? This was so goddamn heavy it’s not even funny. Again, another lift that I need to increase by 200lbs in 6 weeks. This should be fun.

500lbs for 150ft

750lbs: just pick ups and holds. Had it for 4 seconds then dumped it. Another pickup and held for 10 seconds. This should teach me one thing. There is NO subsitute for heavy weight on your back. It felt like the weight of the world on my shoulders and it was only 750lbs. On the drop after 4 seconds I hit my head really hard on the back of the bar, it actually knocked me out for a couple seconds. My neck, upperback and traps are beyond sore today.

press with the yoke:
this was actually pretty easy. Maybe 3 or 4 sets of 3-8 reps here.

sled drag backwards:
3 runs of 200ft with 3 plates on top of the tire. The tire really makes this one hard with all the friction.

Done. Not really a good day. I am actually really down right now. Between the tire, log, and yoke, I now have 3 bad events. The truck pull should go well, but if it is as heavy as I have been told, it may be a different outcome.

My knee swelled up pretty good last night, it is sore today for sure, but I think it’s getting better. I don’t even know what to say about my back…

Going to try and do some overhead work tonight in leiu of bench. I really need to switch up my training and try to get some more event work in during the week. I have so much work to do in 6 weeks, it’s not funny. Will be interesting to see how far I can push it without injuring myself badly.

Monopoly

26

I’d love to see some pics of the yoke.

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I will get some pics of it the next time it comes out, this weekend I’m sure.

1/14/08 de/re upper

I felt like shit all day. I think that bonk on the head may have some lasting effects. Bad headache, queasy and shitty feeling all day long. I had a hard time eating anything. Bodyweight was 242 today, and that’s being generous. I didn’t really expect a big gain due to the large jump the week before, and the fact that my training and eating was not up to par.

superset
double banded purple bench (off 1 board)
no lower than 8 reps, worked up to 35lbs per side

with

seated military lockouts with green bands
worked up to 25lbs per side for a triple.

incline db press
60x12
80x10
100x7-felt strong, and pain was minimal
60x20 with monster mini band

standing db push press superset with pushups. 3 sets

machine dips superset with face pulls. 3 sets of 10 reps.

Good workout! Had some coffee and ephedra before, long warmup, everyone was excited to train. Going back today for ART session on shoulder, back, knee. I may train events today, my partner is leaving again for travel tomorrow so either I suck it up and go today, or have a poor session tomorrow when I am more recovered. Decisions decisions.

Monopoly

28

I’ve nothing to say, really except:

Good luck

Nice avatar. :smiley:

AD

29

Thanks AD. I saw that pic in a profile over on EF like 6 years ago, have loved it since.

1/16/08

Wanted to do some event work today, however it was cold here in CO. 20 degrees to be more specific. We warmed up as best we could and put on the layers. It took about 10 minutes just to get our tire pried up off the ice.

Farmers at 100/hand for 300ft
Farmers at 100/hand for 300ft

Tire (700lbs)
4 sets of 3-5 flips per set

Farmers at 200/hand for 150ft
Farmers at 200/hand for 300ft-this was tough

Everything seemed very difficult. I don’t know if this was due to the cold weather, but the tire felt soooooo heavy, I just had no pop or explosion in the flip.

I tried using my briefs on both events, and I think they are now a bit tight to work. Before I could just slide them on, and yesterday it took about 5 minutes to get them seated on. I will try again when the weather is warmer, I may also try my deadlift suit on the tire and see if it helps. I felt like dogshit after we came in from events, I almost called the rest of the workout but somehow pushed through it.

Lat pull downs
4 sets of varying reps and weight

seated low rope rows (2"rope)
worked up to 300lbs for 8 reps

We setup a incline bench and layed facedown on it. We then braced our feet against another machine. We had the rope attached to the middle position on the crossover station. This actually simulated the position of a truck pull pretty well. We did 150lbs with one had for 8 reps, then switched back to the other hand for 8 reps. We did this to failure for 4 sets.

Bent over rows with the log
log x 15 (90lbs)
180x12
270x10
270x10
270x8

chin ups
4 sets of 8-10 reps

preacher curl machine
4 sets of varying reps and weight

We made the best of a bad day. I am feeling very beat up right now, in particular, my back. My left is knee is now acting up as I’m sure I have been favoring it with the right knee injured. Shoulder continues to nag at me, yesterday it was hurting after the farmers runs, and today and I have a great stinger running from my neck, through shoulder, and into my lat.

I have 2 choices for tonight. The other gym I have gone to trains lower body tonight hard. Or, I can go by myself and just have a good accessory/recovery workout. What will I do?

My strength is not progressing as quickly as I want. This means that for the first time in my life, I feel like I am about to ask drugs to do more work than me. I am considering going to a gram a week with test, and adding tren ace into the mix as well. I talked to one of the vets I really respect at the gym last night, and we are going to try and go to lunch to discuss my diet and cycle. Hopefully this happens over the weekend. Anyways, I gotta do some work now.

Monopoly

30

I should have kept posting and reading today instead of working, what a shitty day.

I just hit my accessory/recovery workout. Went like this.

bike 10 minutes
stretching 10 minutes
foam roller

reverse hyper
worked up to 6 plates for 8 reps, this was heavier than I have ever gone and it felt pretty good

good morning off pins
135x10
225x3 shit, big time back pain and weakness right were it needs to be strong. I called the back work here

seated hamstring curls
3 sets of 12 reps

one arm band pushdows
4 sets of 15 reps per arm

seated db overhead press
4 sets of 25lbs at 15 reps

ab work

Done. Good eating day today. I am going to get worked on AGAIN tomorrow. I will take Friday/Saturday off and go events on Sunday. I’m sure that by the time I am feeling better, I’ll hammer myself back down.

Monopoly

31

Friday;

Good day. Had another ART treatment, this time on just my back and neck. He worked a bunch on my glute, hams and hips which he thinks is linked to my back at the moment. I left thinking it didn’t feel much better but that proved to be incorrect. Friday and Saturday were good recovery days, and good eating days.

Sunday, event day!

Lots of stretching, warm ups, work with bands, pull throughs, etc. Also 10 minutes on the bike.

Log
log (90lbs) x 10
130x10
180x8
220x5
240x3
265x1-Great! This was with very little leg drive. My tris actually caught this lift and finished it off, which never happens. All the band and lockout work must be paying off. For me and that weight, it was an easy lift.
275xmiss I threw it in front of me, also I let all my air out before I pushed the weight which is never good for me.
230x6 clean and press each rep.

Great day on the log. Last time I touched it I had a hard time hitting 230 and today it was reps. The clean at 275 was also a cakewalk. I feel better about reaching my goal of 3 reps at 275lbs for the show.

Yoke
yoke for 180ft (200lbs)
380lbs for 180ft
560lbs 80ft-shitty

I added my squat suit here. I have been wanting to test it out.

560lbs-2 steps. The suit about took off my right testicle. I dropped the straps and just used the bottoms.
560lbs 80ft, very fast and solid
640lbs 80ft, faster than the 560! I dropped this weight 3 times at 40ft last week!!!
640lbs 80ft, slower than first set. My shoulders dropped forward and it really messed me up.

pickups
750 for 15 seconds. Easy pickup, easy hold. This felt so much better than last week.

850, straps up, pin position up 1 on yoke. Hold for 12 seconds! Again, this felt good.

I tried walking with 750, but my back was getting tired and thought better. I will hit this for a good distance next week.

Dynamic deadlift against green bands
3 sets of 12 reps here, just working on good form and quickness.

Planks for time with 45lb plate on my ass (3 sets)

More stretching and foam roller work.

What a great day. Fantastic progress on the log and yoke, I feel much better today about things. I had more gas for some other events, but the plan is to hit stones and tire on Wend so I wanted to stay fresh. I don’t feel tired at all right now. I really wish I could get on an even keel, I seem to be either way up, or way down. Maybe the 2 days off and treatment really helped? Maybe the supps are finally starting to hit? I’m not sure, I’m just happy today. I also got some pics of the yoke, I will attach them next.

Monopoly

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1/21 Monday

Great day of eating, I put more down today than since I started back up. My body feels pretty good after yesterdays training, which is nice for a change. Back pain was minimal. I do have another ART session tomorrow afternoon, so hopefully that continues to help.

ME upper

barbell floor press
135x12
135x8
225x8
275x3
315x1-good lift, had more here but not much more
275x7-dog strong, this felt great and minimal pain

flex machine incline press
5 sets of increasing weight working up to 5 rm.

machine flys
3 sets of 12

db overhead french press
60x12
80x12
95x15
110x11

superset with

tate press
25x15
40x12
60x miss- I’m an idiot
45x8
40x8

reverse grip pushdowns superset with pushdowns
3 sets to failure on both variations

face pulls
80x15
100x12
140x10-stronger here

Another good session. Shoulders and elbows are feeling a bit beat up as I type this, but not too bad. After 2 good sessions in a row, I do think everything must be starting to kick. I had good drive once I got going. Body weight was also up to 246 today. 15lbs to go in 5 more weeks!

I’m stuffed!

Monopoly

36

1/23 me/lower/2nd event day

Good day overall. Just couldn’t go fast enough, I kept watching the clock for 3:30 to hit. Pretty decent day of eating as well.

I had about an hour drive with traffic to get to the gym we were training at tonight. This gave me time to drink a bunch of coffee, listen to some good music and get pissed off in traffic. Seemed to work out well.

Warmup
bike 10 minutes
pull throughs 4 sets of 12
kb snatch working up to 80 for 3, also some clean and press

stones
180 stone to 60 for 3 sets of 4?
180 stone to 74" for 3 sets of 2
240 stone to 74", 3 sets of 1 with 2 misses as well
275 stone to 70", miss 3 times
275 stone to 60" 2 sets of 1
290 stone to 60" for 1

The 240 to 74" was tough, but I’m happy that I got it. The platforms are very high at the show, so this was good.

farmer deads
150/hand for 3
200/hand for 3
250/hand for 2
295/hand for 3! See the attached video(check out the dude behind me doing quarter squats with like a quarter per side, classic)
295/hand for 1 with 40 second hold

GHR
3 sets of 3 reps. I thought my hamstrings were going to pop. Do you think this may be a weak link? I mean good god, this just sucks.

Done. Drank my 1000 calorie shake then hit Mcd’s for some hamburgers.

Strength is going up up up. The 295/hand was super light, and a PR. I had a lot more left for a single, but I didn’t think I should push it. My body feels pretty good right now, so even though I want to 1rm on every lift, I’m going to try and quit.

I tried my dead suit on the pickups as well, it’s also now too tight to be of use during the event. I can only have the straps up for like 30 seconds before my nuts are killing me. In the video I do have the suit bottoms on. I think I will try to wear the briefs in most events as I’m liking the support and confidence I’m getting from them.

Looking forward to a good assistance/recovery workout tomorrow, and Saturday should be fun. I think we are going to have a crew of around 10 guys.

Monopoly

37

Nice looking yoke. I keep thinking that it wouldn’t be that hard to make a yoke, but I’m just too lazy. I plan on buying my own next month.

Good luck with your training.

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Enjoying this thread!

39

Thanks for the positive comments and the rating guys.

Sorry for the long delay in posts. Weekend went well, lots of good food and some good rest as well. I slept great Saturday and Sunday night, which was a huge relief. For about the past 2 weeks now, I have been waking up without fail at between 2 and 3 am, unable to fall back asleep. Fun stuff.

1/26 Event day

We had a great crew on Saturday. About 8 of us. Started with power cleans.

135x5
135x5
185x3
225x3
275x2
310x1-Friggen PR time bitch! I have missed this weight like 20 times before, I was stoked to get it. Was a pretty clean lift as well. Bad news is that I re-tweaked my left wrist.

Yoke
380x80ft
560x60ft-shitty
added briefs and inzer knee sleeves
560x80-much faster
650x70? about the same as last week
750x40ft? Talk about baby steps, it took forever to get it that far but I did it. This is again a 100lb pr so I’ll take it.

pickups
850 for 30 seconds, pickup and hold easy. I will try for 800lbs at 50ft next week.

One of the guys that came up hit 750 for 25ft his FIRST TIME EVER using the yoke, freakin sick.

yoke press
yokex4 (200lbs)
300xmiss-retarted
240x1 easy
260x1 easy
280x1 easy
290xmiss, dammit, this was close

tire (700lbs)
5 flips
9 fiips
5 flips
technique and speed are coming back FINALLY on this thing. I am starting to one motion this tire which is what I need to do.

Done, had a big shake then a half gallon of chocolate (sp?)milk.

I Cannot believe that clean. I have not even been training for it and I pr. Guess I am just getting stronger overall. Everthing has def hit now. I will increase the adrol to 100mgs/day 3 weeks out. I am going to up the test to 1000mg/wk starting next Monday.

I now have 42 days til the show, this gives me about 5 weeks of training left and a lot to do.

My body if feeling really beat up, namely my back. I did not get my ART session in on Friday, so that is some of it I’m sure. I have one planned for today at lunch, and I’m also going to try and get a massage. Looking forward to tonight, plan on doing some work with the log. Time to eat!

Monopoly

40

Great job on the PRs! Keep working hard, man.