Old Guy Doing 5/3/1

Training Training Logs
361

10/21/17 conditioning day

Went to Crossfit Free State in Topeka for their Saturday morning workout, which was a brutally long metcon, and it was miserable but I made it through it.

WOD: Heather

800m run
5 rounds of:
12 chest-to-bar pullups
9 squat snatches @ 95# (I did power snatches)
6 handstand pushups
800m run

Did it in 37:something, I don’t remember, I was basically brain dead at that point. Happy that I made it through, with my conditioning being what it is. The workout had a time cap of 40 minutes, so pleased that I came in under that. pull-ups were straight the first 2 rounds, then broken up the last 3. power snatches were really broken up all the way through. handstand pushups were straight every round, so I’m happy about that. First 800m was easy, last 800 was miserable.

1 Like
362

10/23/17 3/5/1 cycle 6 day 5

Warmup:

Press:
10x45#
5x65#
5x95#
5x115#
5x125#
5x145#
9x160#!

Superset with pullups: 1/2/3/4/5/6/7/8/25!

DB press per hand:
10x55#
10x65#
5x75#

superset with DB rows per hand:
10x65#
10x75#
10x85#

Press felt good, got 9x160#, where I only got 8x155# at this point last cycle. Also, decided to see if I could hit 25 pullups, and got it! pretty decent for a 200# old man. :P" I couldn’t do that at 20 years old and 140#. Unfortunately, I was pretty fatigued by the end of the DB presses, my arms were like lead on the last set. Still, I won’t complain with hitting a rep pr on press and pullups on the same day.

2 Likes
363

Tuesday 10/24/17 3/5/1 cycle 6 day 6

Warmup.

Squat:
10x45#
5x95#
5x135#
5x185#
5x245#
5x285#
10x325#
FSL:
5x245#
5x245#
5x245#

Good mornings:
3x10x155#
superset with decline medicine ball situps:
3x20

Better than last cycle’s 10 rep squats, core work felt a lot better. 10x325# still hard as hell…

1 Like
364

Friday 10/27/17 3/5/1 cycle 6 day 7

Warmup.

Bench:
10x45#
5x65#
5x85#
5x115#
5x135#
5x155#
5x180#
9x205#
FSL paused bench:
5x155#
5x155#
5x155#

Superset with weighted pullups:
25# 1/2/3/4/5
45# 1/2/3/4/5

Weighted dips 45#: 5/10/15
superset with weighted horizontal rows (feet elevated): 5/10/10

Only got 9 reps at 205#, but I was going to stop hitting 10 every time eventually, so that’s okay. Was at the gym in Burlington so I was able to use the belt to hang plates, hence 45# weighted pullups/dips for a change. At home all I have is my 25# dive belt.

1 Like
365

Okay, I skipped deadlift day, and went to Bodies Health and Fitness in Lee’s Summit MO to play with the strongman implements I’ll be using in the contest in 2 weeks, and worked my deadlifts in there. Met several of the folks who are going to be in the contest, so that was cool. Didn’t have time to work every implement, but still got some good work in.

Sunday 10/29/17 Strongman implements, plus a little deadlifting.

Warmup.

Log clean and press:
3x130#
3x150#
3x170#
1x190#
Fx210#
Fx210#

Farmer’s carry:
110#x30ftx2
160#x30ftx2
200#x30ftx1

Deadlift:
5x135#
5x225#
5x295#
8x365#

So, I learned a few things this day. The only thing stopping me from getting 210# on the log is my breathing. At the top of my clean when I get my elbows under the log, I’m expelling all my breath on the exertion since I have to do a fast transition, and then I can’t get a new breath with a 210# log sitting on my chest, and my strength is gone. I need to take a good breath at the bottom when I have the log on my thighs before I stand up for the clean, and then keep it in until the log is overhead. I also need to remember to breathe when I’m carrying the farmer’s implements, grip was no problem, but I didn’t take a breath until halfway down when one of the guys there cued me to breathe.

Monday 10/30/17 3/5/1 cycle 6 day 9

Warmup.

Press:
10x45#
5x65#
5x95#
5x110#
5x125#
5x145#
3x160#
2x180#

Superset with pullups 1/2/3/4/5/6/7/8/9/10

DB press: 10x55#, 10x65#
Superset with rows: 10x65#, 10x75#

This day was a quick workout, and not that strong, not surprising since worked pretty hard yesterday, and did heavy (for me) log presses, but I at least wanted to get the work in. This will be my last heavy pressing until the competition, and I didn’t want to skip it entirely.

1 Like
366

Okay, it’s been a few weeks since I’ve posted, but didn’t have anything significant to post and I was pretty busy. Did bench on 11/3 and deadlift on 11/4, but just did the jack shit, minimum reps on the main lifts, then I did a whole body workout on Wednesday 11/8 with deload weights, just so I didn’t completely slack going up on the Veteran’s Day strongman competition.

As for the competition, it was a blast! I finished 4th (out of 4) in the master’s division, but felt no shame in losing to the guys I was competing against. The top 2 guys were experienced strongman competitors who both outweighed my by about 100#, and the other guy was another strongman newbie but an experienced powerlifter who was also quite a bit bigger than me, and they were all totally chill, helpful and encouraged me the whole way. Honestly, if I had been worrying about placing, I would have done a lot better if I had competed in the novice division, since they used the same weights (along with the lightweights, but I’m a few pounds over that, although I could probably cut down fairly easily if I wanted to be more strict with my diet, and do a water cut before the contest), and I scored above quite a few of those guys.

As for the events, I actually got videos, thanks to my son Marshall and my daughter Amber as videographers with my cell phone. I’ll post them after I get them transferred from my phone.

  1. Log clean and press: finished 4th, with 190#, just missed 210# because I got dizzy, the other guys got 210#, 250# and 270#. The top 2 guys agreed to stop there rather than chase each other up and wear themselves out, but I’m sure they could both get over 300#.

  2. Deadlift medley (315# deadlift, 455# 18" deadlift, 315# axle deadlift for max reps, 1 minute total time): got 21 total reps, which was good for 2nd place. I had time for one more rep, but I gassed out and stopped. This was my best event by far, I think I might have beaten all of the novices and lightweights. Not really surprising, since it’s the only event that I actually do on a regular basis, so there wasn’t the learning curve involved with all the other implements.

  3. Yoke carry (500#, 25 feet down, 25 feet back, 1 minute limit). 3rd place, 49’ 11", dropped with like 1 inch of implement still over the line, couldn’t pick it back up in the time. This was my hardest event, and looking at the video, I definitely had the height set too low, which took a lot out of me every time I had to pick it up. Need a lot of practice on this implement. Didn’t feel stable, lots of drops.

  4. Farmer’s carry (200# per hand). 4th place, 15-something seconds, the best times were in the 7+ second range. Steady and no drops, though, so I was satisfied with my performance here. Another implement I need more practice on.

  5. Sled push/drag (450#, 30 feet each way). 30-something seconds, I feel like I could have done better on this, but finished the event, so I’m happy.

Overall, I’m really pleased with my performance. Strength wasn’t an issue, but technique on the implements definitely was. I’ll keep working on that, and work on acquiring some of the implements for my garage gym in the future, and I’ll definitely compete again. Bodies Health and Fitness, the gym that held the competition, is going to be sponsoring another event early next year, with some different events, so I may sign up for that one to get a chance to get my hands on some of the other implements.

367

Okay, here are the event videos. Any comments or advice are welcome.

170# Log clean and press

190# Log clean and press

210# Log clean and press failure

Deadlift medley

Yoke carry

Farmer’s carry

Sled push and drag

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Another 'First Strongman Competition' Person Looking for Advice
Bagsy's Training Log
368

11/14/17 3/5/1 cycle 7 day 1

Warmup.

Press:
10x45#
3x65#
3x95#
3x115#
3x135#
3x155#
3x175#
Joker:
3x185#

superset with pullups: 1/2/3/4/5/6/7/8/9/10/11

DB press, per arm:
3x60#
3x70#
3x80#
3x90#
3x10x55#

superset with DB rows:
3x60#
3x70#
3x80#
3x90#
3x10x90#

So, I changed the accessory work a little bit, wanted to put some slightly heavier weight over my head 1-handed. Bodies Health and Fitness is putting on another strongman competition in January, and I am thinking about doing that one as well. I’m also considering signing up for a powerlifting competition in KC at Impact Elite, in April. I just enjoyed the competition atmosphere so much, I want to get back in there.

Anyway, Matt, the organizer of the event, was telling me what the events were going to be, and I unfortunately didn’t write things down because I was focusing on the contest at hand, but I think he mentioned a max deadlift, an overhead medley that included a circus dumbell, and a sandbag loading event. Deadlift I’m working on every week. 1-armed overhead I do as accessory, but never with heavy weight so I decided to change that. I’m going to have to make myself a sandbag, but I know I have an old seabag somewhere I can convert.

369

11/15/17 3/5/1 cycle 7 day 2

Warmup.

Squat:
5x45#
5x95#
3x135#
3x185#
3x225#
3x275#
3x315#
3x345#
Joker:
3x365#

I was supposed to do another joker at 385#, and fsl sets and accessories, but my upper glute was cramping on my left side, so I decided to cut it short and let myself rest a little.

2 Likes
370

in the strongman event, it was kind of thick grip on the bar in the dead lift combined with straps. how was the reasoning behind that combo do you think?

/br bonoboschimp

371

Yeah, allowing straps does sort of defeat the difficulty increase of using an axle, but I wasn’t going to complain.

2 Likes
372

11/17/17 3/5/1 cycle 7 day 3

Warmup.

Bench:
10x45#
5x65#
3x95#
3x115#
3x135#
3x155#
3x185#
3x205#
3x225#
Joker:
3x235#

Superset with weighted pullups:
+25# 1/2/3/4/5
+45# 1/2/3/4/5

Incline bench:
10x95#, 10x115#, 10x135#
superset with pullups: 10/10/10

45# weighted dips: 5/10/15
superset with 25# weighted body rows with feet elevated: 10/10/10

Mixing up my accessories a little here, too. Decided to give incline bench a try to see if it helps my overhead pressing any, since that seems to be where I’m stalling the hardest. because I have to tuck my elbows so much to keep my shoulders safe, this really smoked my triceps. Flat bench felt really good, too, the joker set was very solid.

373

11/18/17 5/3/1 cycle 7 day 4

Warmup.

Deadlift:
3x45# + 1 power clean
3x95# + 1 power clean
3x135# + 1 power clean
3x185#
3x225#
3x275#
3x315#
3x365#
3x395#
Jokers:
3x415#

Front squat:
3x45#
3x65#
3x95#
3x115#
3x135#
3x155#
1x185#

Medicine ball decline situps 20/20/20
superset with medicine ball back extensions 20/20/20

Overall okay workout, but I stopped after one joker set. It felt fine, but being mindful of tweaking my back squatting on Tuesday, I decided to go conservative. Also quit at one rep of 185# on the front squat because it was falling out of my rack. The middle 2 fingers on my left hand were feeling a little tweaked, and didn’t want to hold the bar in the rack position.

I need to get some help in improving my front squat, it’s steadily failing to get better. I’m doing it as an accessory to deadlifting, and it’s helping my back, but even as an accessory I should be doing more weight than this. I’m having trouble front squatting well less than half my 1RM back squat, and that’s some serious skill deficit. I think I’m going to talk to Brett at Crossfit Free State in Topeka, he’s an Oly lifting coach, so it ought to be right up his alley.

1 Like
374

Oops, forgot to log that I also ran at the end of yesterday’s workout, 11/18/17. Rec center indoor track, 115m, 1 slow lap warmup, then 10 laps of sprint the straights, walk the curves. For a given definition of ‘sprint’, of course.

375

11/21/17 3/5/1 cycle 7 day 5

Warmup.

Press:
5x45#
5x65#
5x85#
5x105#
5x125#
5x145#
8x165#

Superset with pullups: 1/2/3/4/5/6/7/8/9/10

DB press, per arm:
3x60#
3x70#
3x80#
3x90#
3x10x60#

superset with DB rows:
3x60#
3x70#
3x80#
3x90#
3x10x90#

2 Likes
376

Okay, some catch-up to do, here. I only worked out twice last week, and twice this week, and in between I’ve been moving all my worldly possessions between houses, so I guess that could count as exercise, especially dragging a 600# fully-loaded freezer up the stairs on a dolly. Anyway, here’s the breakdown since last Wednesday.

11/22/17 3/5/1 cycle 7 day 6

Warmup.

Squats:
5x45#
5x95#
5x135#
5x185#
5x245#
5x285#
3x325#

Felt a pulling in my right hamstring on 3rd rep at 325, so called it a day there. Hamstring stayed tight for a couple of days, but by the weekend and moving time it felt better. That’s 2 weeks in a row I’ve tweaked something while squatting. I think my body’s trying to tell me it’s time for a back-off on the next cycle.

Tuesday 11/28/17 3/5/1 cycle 7 day 7

Warmup.

Bench:
5x45#
5x65#
5x95#
5x115#
5x135#
5x165#
5x185#
6x210#
ssl:
5x185#
5x185#
5x185#

superset with weighted pullups 25#x1/2/3/4/4, 45#x1/2/3/4/5/6

Dips 45# weighted 5/10/15
superset with bodyweight inverted rows +25# 10/10/10

11/29/17 3/5/1 cycle 7 day 8

Warmup.

Deadlift:
5x45# + 2 power cleans
5x95# + 2 power cleans
5x135# + 2 power cleans
5x185# + 1 power clean
5x225#
5x275#
5x315#
5x365#

Front squat:
3x45#
3x65#
3x95#
3x115#
3x135#
3x155#
3x185#

Edited because I somehow double posted this.

1 Like
377

12/5/17 3/5/1 cycle 7 day 9

Warmup.

Press (power clean first rep of each set, the racks were taken)
5x45#
5x65#
5x95#
5x115#
5x145#
3x165#
1x185#

superset with pullups 1/2/3/4/5/6/7/8/9

DB press per arm:
3x60#
2x70#
1x80#
1x90#
1x100#
3x10x65#

superset with DB rows:
3x60#
3x70#
3x80#
3x90#
3x100#
3x10x100#

So, learned some things today. First, it’s a bad idea for me to try to switch to a false grip AFTER power cleaning 185#, I almost lost the bar, then didn’t have more than 1 rep in me after messing around for so long with trying to get my hands right. Power cleaning ends up with my hands closer than I usually press, I’ll have to work on the transition with power cleans.
Second, I wanted to see if I could press a 100# DB, and I got it with both arms, but it took 2 tries with my right arm. Also, once I got to 100# with the rows, my grip was definitely an issue with the right hand. First time I’ve really started seen a strength difference between my arms.

378

12/6/17 3/5/1 cycle 7 day 10

Warmup.

Squat:
5x45#
5x95#
5x135#
5x185#
5x225#
5x285#
3x325#
3x365#
FSL:
3x5x285#

Good mornings 3x10x145#
superset with decline medicine ball situps 3x16

Squats felt much better than the last 2 times. I concentrated more on my cues, sitting into the squat instead of starting by bending my knees, and that made a lot of difference. Could have done 5 @365, but kept it easy, didn’t want to push my luck. Good workout.

379

12/9/17 work/workout

Not really a workout, but dug post holes for 200 ft of chain link fencing, and set all the corner posts. This consisted of running a hand auger, a post hole digger, and loading and unloading 18 80# bags of concrete, and toting concrete and 5 gallon buckets of water, so overall a pretty solid workout. Took 4 hours, and I was smoked afterwards.

12/10/17 3/5/1 cycle 7 day 11

Warmup.

Bench:
5x45#
5x65#
5x95#
5x115#
5x135#
5x155#
5x185#
3x210#
2x235#

superset with 25# weighted pulllups 1/2/3/4/5/6/7/8/10

Conditioning: 6x200m runs.

I stopped just the base exercise today, my triceps were still wrecked from yesterday. I was actually surprised to get 2 reps at 235#, considering. Didn’t want to be completely done, though, and my legs were good, so I decided to do some 200m intervals. Those felt pretty good.

2 Likes
380

Forgot to post Wednesday’s deadlift workout.

Wednesday 12/13/17 cycle 7 day 12

Warmup.

Deadlift:
5x45# + 2 power cleans
5x95# + 2 power cleans
5x135# + 2 power cleans
5x185# + 1 power clean
5x225#
5x275#
5x315#
3x365#
3x425#

Front squats:
3x45#
3x65#
3x95#
3x115#
3x135#
3x155#
3x185#

I’m taking the rest of the week off, then starting a new cycle next week with a 10% drop in all my weights, and I’m going to work on some volume and higher reps for a while, see if I can build a little muscle mass for a change.

1 Like