I am 21 years old, 6’2" tall and currrently weigh 242lbs which is the heaviest I have ever been. I played sports all my life and have lifted for some time but never competed in any strength sports. I do not have experience in strongman and appreciate any critique and suggestions.
My strength stats aren’t very accurate because I only test my maxes when I need to know them for programs:
Squat 140kg (at 100kg)
Deadlift 170kg (at 100kg)
Push press 90kg (at 100kg)
Military Press 70kg, 62,5kg x6 - can definitely do more (at 100kg and 110kg)
Bench press 105kg (at 105?)
slingshot bench 120kg (at 105)
Log clean & press 80kg (at 110kg)
Front squat 100kg (at 95kg)#
The next program I am about to do is a strongman beginner program made by Alan Thrall (it has no specific name).
25.12.
Today I tested my log clean & press max because my next program is percentage based. I ended up with 80kg. I did have a little bit more in the tank. The clean is my glaring weakness. I am pretty sure that I could press 85-90 kg from a rack but I couldn’t clean it.
Back off sets:
60kg x5 (clean once)
60kg x10 (clean once)
60kg x5 (just cleans)
All of my sets for today were supersetted with light band godd mornings. I have some trouble to really warm up in the cold and my SI-joint seemed to like that idea.
Log cleans are miserable, haha. Something that I did that helped was to set-up a conditioning drill like this.
Take about 70-80% of your best log clean.
Do 3 cleans every minute, on the minute for 10 minutes.
This will gas you pretty fierce, and will really help develop some technique, ESPECIALLY under a state of fatigue, which is where you’ll really need to be good on the clean.
I originally stole the idea from a Brian Shaw article in Power Magazine. Strongmanvinny did something similar too for his log clean. This approach helped me take second place in a clean each rep event, which was amazing considering I was competing up a weight class and training with a totally ghetto log, haha.
[quote]T3hPwnisher wrote:
Log cleans are miserable, haha. Something that I did that helped was to set-up a conditioning drill like this.
Take about 70-80% of your best log clean.
Do 3 cleans every minute, on the minute for 10 minutes.
This will gas you pretty fierce, and will really help develop some technique, ESPECIALLY under a state of fatigue, which is where you’ll really need to be good on the clean.
I originally stole the idea from a Brian Shaw article in Power Magazine. Strongmanvinny did something similar too for his log clean. This approach helped me take second place in a clean each rep event, which was amazing considering I was competing up a weight class and training with a totally ghetto log, haha.[/quote]
Yeah this seemed to be a great approach and I enjoyed doing it. One thing I will say is this works well with any strongman event, so long as it’s kept medium-light.
[quote]T3hPwnisher wrote:
Log cleans are miserable, haha. Something that I did that helped was to set-up a conditioning drill like this.
Take about 70-80% of your best log clean.
Do 3 cleans every minute, on the minute for 10 minutes.
This will gas you pretty fierce, and will really help develop some technique, ESPECIALLY under a state of fatigue, which is where you’ll really need to be good on the clean.
I originally stole the idea from a Brian Shaw article in Power Magazine. Strongmanvinny did something similar too for his log clean. This approach helped me take second place in a clean each rep event, which was amazing considering I was competing up a weight class and training with a totally ghetto log, haha.[/quote]
Thanks for the idea Punisher! Sounds like something that should help me! I also think once I implement the log on a weekly basis my numbers should go up.
27.12.
Started the program today with the squat focused day which is actually day 2 but tomorrow I will only have a short time to work out so upper body fits better.
Paused front squats
up to 95kg x1 (with belt)
52x5 x5 (beltless)
62,5 x5 "
72,5 x5 "
Back squats (beltless)
80 x8
80 x8
walking lunges
3 x16 steps total - not sure how much weight because I don’t know how heay this bar was. I huess 25-30kg.
planks with 20kg plate on butt.
3 x60 sec.
Notes:
I have never done paused front squats and haven’t done front squats for a while so I am happy with the outcome.
walking lunges gassed me pretty good
my idea for a sled substitute didn’t work that well. If anyone has an idea, let me know!
Happy New year. It was a though one for me personally but I look pretty positiv into the coming year.
OHP 5 x10 with 45kg
chest supported row 3 x12-15
incline db press 2x12 ; 28kg first set, 30kg second
4a. close grip bench press 4 x8-10 with 50kg chains
4b. bicep curls 3 x8-20
shrugs 2 x10-12 with 100kg
Notes:
I have problems with the high rep stuff because of too much lactic acid. Maybe I need to change my diet or supplementation or maybe my body needs to get used to the new style of training.
Yesterday I was up for 24 hours and have worked 18 of them, I count this as a personal pr. Everything felt heavy today and my body felt like I am 85 years old.
Left pec hurt a little bit on the incline db press. Not really sure what is going on there but I noticed this a few weeks for the first time. No problem on OHP or close grip.
Higher reps just take a while to get used to. Strength is a factor, but conditioning really plays a role there. I used to chase 1rms all the time, and when it came time for some quality rep work to actually build some strength, I had nothing in me. It’ll build in time as long as you stick with it and keep up your conditioning. The surefire way to make yourself better than your competition is to be willing to endure more misery than they are, haha.
Wanted to do events today but it started to snow yesterday night and continued to do so the whole morning, so I went to the gym instead.
Block Pulls from about 2-4 cm or 1 - 1.5 inches: 5x5 with 120kg
Back extensions BW + band 3x12; BW 1x15-20
3 sets of ab rollouts
Notes:
deadlifted pretty much the whole year exclusively sumo and every other type of deadlift does not feel good to me.
took a video of my last set and am semi happy. Need to work on tightness and dropping the hips more.
SI- joint felt fine this time. The last time I tried conventional deadlifting it felt like it was ready to explode, so I count that as a win
120kg is around my 20 rep max with sumo from the floor. So doing this for a 5x5 from low blocks makes me feel weak but it also shows that I did not spend enough time doing the things I am bad at and it gives me a direction to go in.
Edit: -Dropped a 15kg plate from hip height on my toe. My toe hurts!
[quote]cavemansam wrote:
Alan Thrall never heard of him
google
watched one of his videos
added him to the short list of people i follow for info
thanks[/quote]
I have learned a lot from his videos and he really knows his stuff!
[quote]Koestrizer wrote:
Edit: -Dropped a 15kg plate from hip height on my toe. My toe hurts!
[/quote]
Dude, last summer I dropped a 32k kettlebell on my feet while barefoot. You should have seen the bruises - all the colours in a rainbow united. :)[/quote]
Ouch! Someone I know dropped a 20kg plate on his foot and it broke. I always laughed when he came into the gym with slippers because he couldn’t wear shoes.
Was very sore today in the upper back, hams, triceps, delts… so pretty much everywhere. Went training anyway (probably not eh brightest guy out there).
Push press 5x5 with 75kg
2a. Pull ups (band assisted) 5x8
2b. Face pulls 5x20
Z press 2x8 with 35kg
4a. lying triceps extensions with EZ-bar (bar comes to complet stop before every rep) 2x15 with 27kg? (Don’t know bar weight)
4b. DB curls 2x15
4c. DB shrugs 1x15
Notes:
Doing push presses the day after deadlifts maybe isn’t the best idea. I felt a little discomfort in my back. No pain though, so I kept going.
With push pressing the press itself is pretty easy for me. Stabilizing the weight is actually harder I think. Sometimes I push it up with drive from hips and legs and it flys up so fast I think “holy shit how did this come up here?!” and then the actual task is stabilizing and securing my control over the weight.
Z presses were still very light but it is getting a little harder to stabilize
all the arm training makes me feel like a bodybuilder
Was very sore today in the upper back, hams, triceps, delts… so pretty much everywhere. Went training anyway (probably not eh brightest guy out there) end qoute
if you want to be better than everyone else you need to find the happy balance between
{training stupid and training smart}
hard to explain but
seems like most:not all; people who train smart never pass average
people who train stupid ,not all, stay injured and never pass average
maybe somebody who’s better with words can state this better
maybe i am wrong on concept?
With push pressing the press itself is pretty easy for me. Stabilizing the weight is actually harder I think. Sometimes I push it up with drive from hips and legs and it flys up so fast I think “holy shit how did this come up here?!” and then the actual task is stabilizing and securing my control over the weight.
Z presses were still very light but it is getting a little harder to stabilize
[/quote]
Hey brother, really good to see more strongman training in this forum. Seems like there is only as few of us around. For overhead stability I have found 3 things that have changed the game for me.
Long, light weight waiter’s walks.
Short, Heavy Yoke Waiter’s Walks
Hanging Kettlebells (With bands) from a log or axle and performing strict press drop sets.
Doing these three things helps out my overhead stability a TON. Here is a video of me doing the band suspended overhead stuff so you will better understand what I am trying to say:
With push pressing the press itself is pretty easy for me. Stabilizing the weight is actually harder I think. Sometimes I push it up with drive from hips and legs and it flys up so fast I think “holy shit how did this come up here?!” and then the actual task is stabilizing and securing my control over the weight.
Z presses were still very light but it is getting a little harder to stabilize
[/quote]
Hey brother, really good to see more strongman training in this forum. Seems like there is only as few of us around. For overhead stability I have found 3 things that have changed the game for me.
Long, light weight waiter’s walks.
Short, Heavy Yoke Waiter’s Walks
Hanging Kettlebells (With bands) from a log or axle and performing strict press drop sets.
Doing these three things helps out my overhead stability a TON. Here is a video of me doing the band suspended overhead stuff so you will better understand what I am trying to say: Strict Log Overhead Press Experiement - YouTube [/quote]
Thanks man it really means a lot that you stop by to help out! I have tried something similiar as you did in the video but with bench pressing. Will give it a go!
Btw: I enjoyed your recent video with commentary. I always thought you would make a good “fitness youtuber”. A lot of people could learn a lot of stuff from you!
Was very sore today in the upper back, hams, triceps, delts… so pretty much everywhere. Went training anyway (probably not eh brightest guy out there) end qoute
if you want to be better than everyone else you need to find the happy balance between
{training stupid and training smart}
hard to explain but
seems like most:not all; people who train smart never pass average
people who train stupid ,not all, stay injured and never pass average
maybe somebody who’s better with words can state this better
maybe i am wrong on concept?
[/quote]
I understand what you mean and I agree. In general I think you should try to be smart and care about yourself when it comes to training but sometimes there are moments when you have to say “shut up or nut up”.
[quote]cavemansam wrote:
if you want to be better than everyone else you need to find the happy balance between
{training stupid and training smart}
hard to explain but
seems like most:not all; people who train smart never pass average
people who train stupid ,not all, stay injured and never pass average
maybe somebody who’s better with words can state this better
maybe i am wrong on concept?
[/quote]
Controlled aggression. The tame fighters gets mowed down while being undecided; the raging fighter gets tripped while mindlessly running forward. It’s about having the guts to push when it’s a good idea and stop yourself when it isn’t.
