07.01.
Second workout I guess? Was at a friend’s house and did this:
1 front hold (back against a wall) @ 20 kg weight plate
20 seconds
18 seconds
16 seconds
Notes:
350kg tire flip? that has the potential to be absolutely brutal, depending on the tire. be super careful. I’m assuming you guys have to work together to do the flip. If she has to bail or drops it or whatever, let it go yourself. Don’t risk a bicep tear. I honestly would skip the event if it was me, unless I knew I was capable of flipping the tire on my own. And I’d need a lot of trust in my partner to do a tandem deadlift. I’d also need to be essentially their height. I’ve messed around with these before, did like 1100 in the gym with a friend for a triple. It worked because we were the same height and similar strength levels, so we pulled at a similar speed. I tried it with someone who wasn’t the same height/strength with much less weight and it was a damn train wreck.
Some very valid points!
I am going to do the comp with another man, so it’s going to be the 500 kg tire for us. I have flipped a 380 or 390 kg tire in competition before - so 500 kg is gonna be a no for my biceps.
I asked my future team mate - turns out he has a bigger deadlift than me and is 8 cm shorter. So that might be problematic. Especially problematic since straps aren’t going to be allowed and I have no faith in my grip on a normal bar deadlift.
will you get to practice with the guy at all before the show, or at least warm up with him?
Warm up is gonna be the first and last practice. He lives in Berlin and I don’t know him yet. He has never done a strongman show before.
I’ll explain to him that in doubt we don’t try for anything if it feels like it won’t go up for sure on the tandem stuff! I am definitely most nervous for the deadlift and my own issues with the mixed grip aside - I think it is a bad call for security reasons.
My cold is making a comeback. Why the fuck can’t I have a cold like a normal person?! 7-10 days and get over it. I was pleased with my original progress. Throat pain stopped Saturday and by Monday I merely had an occasional cough and very slightly runny nose. Yesterday my symptoms came back much stronger. Still debating if I should train today or not. Throat doesn’t hurt and my doc said once you can train if your symptoms are mainly above the throat. On the other hand I don’t want to have this cold for 7 weeks again like the last time. Lastly I took a few weeks off last time and I can’t convincingly say that it sped uo the process. Infecting others isn’t an issue because I train in a private gym
Might not be true, but I’ve been told that if your snot is yellow or green, stay at home. If it runs clear, train.
Decided to do the mature thing and rest at least for today. Makes me want to punch something!
A 2,5 hour nap has me feeling a lot better but I’m sticking to my decision.
10.01.
No cough today, chest feels fine. Nose definitely still running, but colorless. Felt like it was okay to get a light session in. Admittably patience threshold reached it’s end too.
1 deadlift (mixed grip!)
5 x 3 @ 142,5 kg
1 @ 160 kg (belt + chalk from here)
2 @ 180 kg
Everything over 142,5 kg was a grip/ confidence test
2 sandbag to shoulder
3 x 1 @ 100 kg
Getting a feel for something like that, without overly exerting myself
Notes:
Rant on why I personally never deadlift without straps (unless it is a side handle)
I don’t know If anyone remembers but I can’t fully supinate any of my arms (meaning my palms can’t face upwards without me twisting my body). That is not training related as far as I can tell as this was the situation for as long as I remember. I have consulted physiotherapists and doctors about this but no one was able to solve it (one physio tried extensively). Apart from maybe a little more sensitive elbow joints, this posted no problems/ pain, so I left it as it is.
I can only force my hand into supination if I grip a straight bar, like a pull up bar. This causes intense stress for my forearm, wrist and to an extend biceps of the forcefully supinated arm.
Also in a deadlift it makes me twist my back and makes the whole pull feel awkward as I can’t figure out how to set my lats in this scenario.
A portion of my grip strength on the supinated arm also has to go into preventing my arm from getting out of the supination (my hand wants to twist away from the bar). I don’t know if that makes a huge difference though.
Why no hook grip? I have tried in the past and with a deadlift bar I might have a better chance, but my hands are comically small in relation to the rest of my body and I could never deadlift more with a hook grip than doh.
Double overhand tops out at like 150-155 kg depending on the bar.
Ah you’re grand, I can double overhand 150kg on a cheap bar and not only is my deadlift weaker than yours, I have tiny little girl hands. (Edit: I see you suffer from the same syndrome, but still…)
RE: mixed grip issues, why not give hook grip another go? @BOTSLAYER has some good tips for it.
Hmm I mean I could potentioally give it another go but on the other hand, we usually never have to deadlift without straps and I will stop doing so after this comp ist over. So I am not sure if it is worth it. I normally train deadlift and grip seperate from each other.
What’s the distance of a lane? Sorry if I missed it, January has been a crash course for me LOL
No worries man! @TX_iron
EDIT: Found Event:
Ugh, really not a fan of tandem lifts. In this scenario I would probably say just use Mixed. AMRAPs with Hook take a bit of time to build the Callus fortitude plus if you and your partner get in a rhythm you really dont want to be holding them up to set your Hook.
If you are huge then comically small in comparison is still pretty big 
With smaller hands the grip should feel more natural and more locked in where as with larger hands it will feel more loose and insecure (at first). When I was first learning Hook I preferred a larger bar.
This is a technique issue. If you post pictures / videos and tag me in here I will make sure to take a look and see if I can help.
As a curiosity, what kind of video would help you best to be able to give input? Angle(s)? Not pursuing the hook grips myself, just… curious.
Ne neither, haha.
Sadly not huge, haha. 1,88m (6’2") and 123 kg (271 lbs).
Very interesting. I probably have given up too easy then! I always had the problem that my thumb slipped away under my fingers. I’ll keep you in mind when I try for them again!
11.01.
I may not know how to set my lats correctly but I am evidently using them because they’re the only muscles that are sore from yesterday.
1 bench press
5 x 3 @ 80 kg
Used the bench downstairs. Didn’t feel like dragging the adjustable one upstairs for this.
2 Log lift (Clean once)
3 x 6 @ 85 kg
3 ng lat pull down (with fast grips)
4 x 10
Notes:
I spent about 5-6 hours yesterday writing a training plan for my best friend’s gf (while drinking gin in the light of honesty) because she asked me for help with her training.
The whole thing turned into a 15 page document with pictures, video links and keyword descriptions for every exercise. Recommendations on how to set up for and measure progress akin to her goals and so on.
My point is: I should probably get back into the fitness industry. I would not have spent my friday night fixing someone’s credit card reader for free.
Behind where I can see the thumb is the main one. From in front can be helpful too to see how deep you set the bar…but I should be able to see that from behind too.