Per aspera ad astra (strongman Koestrizer)

Training Training Logs
483

21.05.

Only 4 hours oft sleep before this workout. Also I was out of town.

1 push Press
Up to
100 kg x 1
100 kg x 1
105 kg x 1
100 kg x 2
90 kg x 5

2a banded bench press (regular grip for a change)
80 kg (+ band tension) x 5
90 kg (+ band tension) x 5
100 kg (+ band tension) x 2
100 kg x 5 (removed bands)

2b seated cable row
5 x 10

3a lat pull down
3 x 10

3b Standing one arm db press
28 kg x 7 per arm
20 kg x 15 per arm

4a bicep curls
12,12, 20

4b Reverse flys
3 x 15

Notes:

  • for the circumstances I can’t complain. It was a wonderful but also exhausting weekend in Flensburg where I celebrated my girlfriend’s completion of her officer’s program by going to a big and fancy ball.
484

22.05.

Returned very late from Flensburg and I am quite a bit behind with sleep. Had to work all day and was only able to start my workout at about 9.15 PM.

1 axle tire deadlifts
Up to
2 x 121 kg x 1
131 kg x 1
141 kg x 1
151 kg x 1
161 kg x 1 - moved pretty good up to this point
171 kg x 0
171 kg x 0 - wtf?!
171 kg x 1 -finally… Ties PR
151 kg x 5

2 SSB box squats (slightly below parallel)
Up to 102 kg and then realised this ist not going to happen.
Did 62 kg x 12 without the box

3 Planke + side planke
2 minuten + 1 minute each side

Notes:

  • was too spend. I didn’t have it in me to push harder.
  • hell of a lot going on right now. Things I have to step far out of my comfort zone for. I am glad to not bei alone but have my girlfriend at my side. Still if I think about all these different giant things that need my attention right now, I feel like my head ist going to explode and I sometimes wonder if I will be able to handle it all.
  • Contest prep isn’t going so great right now. I shouldn’t ne suprised because I am actually only training twice a week most weeks, have a lot of stress and can’t focus enough on it.
485

25.05.

I will spare you the details but I had good and legitimate reasons to skip today’s workout. No one would have called me on it. I make a lot of mistakes in this sport, I don’t have the most talent and I am surely not going balls to the wall in every workout but there is one thing I don’t want people to be able to say about me: That I am not putting in the time and that I am lazy.

1a log lift
51 kg x 5
61 kg x 5
71 kg x 2
81 kg x 1
86 kg x 1
91 kg x 0
91 kg x 0
91 kg x 1
91 kg x 0
91 kg x 0
86 kg x 3 (cleaned once)
81 kg x 6 (cleaned once)

1b pronated chin ups
3, 5, 5, 5, 5, 4

2a swiss bar bench press
50 kg x 5
80 kg x 5
90 kg x 5
100 kg x 3
105 kg x 3 - PR
80 kg x 8

2b lat pull down
60 kg x 8
70 kg x 8
60 kg x 8

3a chest supported 45° row
30 kg x 15, 15

3b lateral raises
10 kg x 12, 12

Notes:

  • really bad workout. Everything felt heavy, forearms were cramping, grip felt weak…
  • even though I had a bad workout I am still glad that I went in.
  • I am looking forward to sleeping…
486

26.05.

Hottest day so far. If that doesn’t call for conditioning, I don’t know what does.

1 Car push
3 runs

2 sandbag over bar (1,20 m height, 55 kg weight)
10 reps in 60 seconds
10 reps in 60 seconds

3 burpees
20 sec work/ 20 sec rest - completed 10 rounds

Notes:

  • the second run with the car was at least somewhat decent. The rest was pretty bad. I can’t seem to get to previous distances. It seems like I am getting worse and worse instead of better.
  • have also done better on the sandbag before but 10 isn’t that bad
  • I jacked Up my elbow doing some arm wrestling matches during our father’s day tour - ist that a thing elsewhere btw? So I had to stop after 2 sets because it was hurting top much. Good news is that I was undefeated though :smiley:
487

27.05.

At the “girlfriend gym” today.

1 deadlifts (off one mat, regular bar)
Up to
152,5 x 8 - PR
152,5 x 4
152,5 x 5

2 squats
Up to
120 kg x 1
130 kg x 3

3 Leg press
about 4 x 8 I think

4 45° back raises
20 kg x 15
20 kg x 15

Notes:

  • deadlifts felt awesome. Yup, you read that right. Changed my technique a little so that I roll the bar to my shins. I have to give my girlfriend the credit for that. She deadlifts like this and recommended it for me. Weights felt super light too.
  • now on to the bad news: my right elbow is really injured. It started hurting during the deadlifts and squats were entirely too much, which ist why I stopped early. I was in so much pain that I couldn’t use my arm anymore. I have dealt with elbow pain before but this is something different. Damn arm wrestling !!
  • I will probably skip Monday’s log session. For now treatment is pain killers to help the inflammation. Since I am so short out from competition, I am desperate for any tips that can help for a short amount of time.
488

Depending on what the injury is, I’ve had some good experience with compression wraps. About a month and a half back I thought I tore my calf pushing a sled (one of the guys standing there heard it and thought I had ripped my shoe) and I was able to get a lot of relief with compression. Still couldn’t train with it for a while, but it helped a lot. Hope you heal quickly buddy.

489

Thanks for checking in, man.
I know the obvious choice would be to rest up and let it heal. I am pretty sure that it isn’t too serious of an injury. However being 2 weeks out from competition with only one week of hard training left, that is not really the road I want to go down.

What kind of compression wrap did you use? I use rather tight sleeves for my training. I happen to have voodoo floss aswell, even though I don’t know how to properly use it.

490

I used just regular ace bandages for walking around. I have used wrist wraps (gangsta wraps) in the past during training and wrapped my forearm for elbow pain with mixed results with them.

I’ve had a trainer use the voodoo floss on my calf too and it helped with knots. Best way to explain what he did was he put the ball where it caused the most pain on my calf, wrapped it up tighter than hell, and told me to flex my foot up and down for 30 sec. It was pretty painful, but it worked. Not sure how much more technical it is than that.

Hope you heal up well before your comp buddy and hope one of these brings you a little relief.

1 Like
491

Wow good shit on the deadlift PR.

1 Like
492

Thanks for the tips and the Kind words, it is much appreciated! I will try some compression and see where it gets me.

1 Like
493

Thanks Vinny, I hope I can get some more reps come competition. I guess I will lose enough points by choosing the lighter weight, so I need to make sure to get a decent amount of reps at least.

494

29.05.

This was the last session where I could use the actual equipment because I am going Out of town. Had a long das at works and the weather ist taking a toll but I felt pretty good going in. Tried some flossing beforehand on my elbow.

1 Log Press - practiced with commands
41 kg x 1
51 kg x 1
61 kg x 1
71 kg x 1
81 kg x 1
86 kg x 1
91 kg x 1

Elbow was screaming in pain! Strength was there though.

2 axle tire deadlift
Up to
151 kg x 7

Hamstrings were still shot from two days prior when I deadlifted. They then just gave out. Ich I weren’t for my hammies I would have easily had more. Had some time left. Fresh I would aim for 10 reps.

3 SSB squats
112 kg x 2
112 kg x 2
112 kg x 3

Notes:

  • would have loved to train at least the sandbag but that is actually worse for my elbow so I left it out
  • okay the elbow is in a lot of pain BUT I should be able to block that Out mentally. This is a hard battle in my head but I am sure I can do it. Quitting now is not an option.
495

So I actually did lift some weigths but I am crazy busy and have a shitty internet connection.

03.06.

This was one of the most amazing experiences of my training career so far. I visited a very small gym that specializes in coaching athletes and also has a powerlifting team. I went there and it was amazing. This was the first time that I actually saw calibrated eleiko plates in real life. There wasn’t a lot of equipment but it was very high quality.

1 swiss bar push press (no log, but wanted to keep it as close as possible to competition)
up to
80 kg x 1
90 kg x 1
95 kg x 1 - PR by default
100 kg x 0
100 kg x 0 - no idea why, but it wasn’t going to happen
90 kg x 1
90 kg x 1
95 kg x 1
100 kg x 0
The push press with a swiss bar is not a movement that I would recommend in general. It is kind of awkward but it got the job done.

Now it got really exciting. Their powerlifting team showed up and it was their max effort bench day. Even though I just did all this overhead stuff I asked if I might join in with them. They were cool with it, even though I was by far weaker than anybody else (their variation of the day was benching with a band around the arms - like a slingshot but more support - and some were exceeding 200 kg!) It was an overwhealming experience. I asked as many questions as I could and listened to every tip that was given to me. Needless to say I was very impressed. Everyone was very kind. The didn’t mind always stripping down the weight when it was my turn and they were handing out and spotting for me. Such a great experience! It did leave a big impression on me.

2 bench press
70 kg x few
100 kg x 1
120 kg x 0 - I just went with their first jumps but I was too spend and my elbow was in hell of alot pain
3 slingshot bench (the original from Mark Bell - kind of rare here because he has no dealer in Germany)
120 kg x 1
130 kg x 1
140 kg x 0
130 kg x 1
130 kg x 1
130 kg x 1

After that I did some push ups and rows in a hurry because I had to leave unfortunately.

Elbow was in harsh pain again. To the point that it greatly affects my grip strength. Still pushing on though! One week and then I can try to be smart again

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496

04.06.

Contrast program today. The gym that I visited yesterday is closed on Sundays and I ended up using a really crappy one.

1 deadlifts (off one mat)
152,5 kg x 8

2 high bar squats (gripped the inside of the plates as if I had no shoulder mobility whatsoever to avoid elbow pain)
80 kg x 5
100 kg x 3
100 kg x 5
110 kg x 1
120 kg x 1
130 kg x 1

3 unilateral leg press (reps per leg)
30 kg per leg x 10
60 kg per leg x 10
75 kg per leg x 10

4 t-bar row
3 x 10

5 leg curls
one big drop set, starting with the stack for 6 reps

Notes:

  • deadlifts felt really off and technique was awful. Couldn’t get the bracing right at all. BUT there is a sunny sight! Even though everything was awful I still could get 8 reps. I am confident that I can get 10 reps in competition. Probably more if there was no time limit. Still I am not going for 181 kg because if I miss it I will zero the event.
  • hardest part of the squats was keeping the bar on my back. The bar had no center knurling and the gym had about the same climatic conditions as the rain forest. So I was sweating, had my hands on the plates and no knurling. It felt like a circus act :smiley: . That is why I didn’t go for reps.
  • my girlfriend massaged my triceps (and back and so on) tonight and right where my triceps connects to the elbow it hurt so awful that I nearly screamed. That is the point that hurts me. Maybe my girlfriend will be able to really help me here. I can’t say if the massage helps or not but it was very painful. The rest of the massage was great and helped to release some tension
  • tomorrow will be my final session before comp (with one deload session added)
497

Didn’t get to log.

05.06.

Trained at the awesome powerlifting gym again.

1 keg loading (Box was 110 cm and the keg was only 35 kg)
2 x AMRAP in 60 seconds
1 x 20 reps as fast aus possible

2 cambered bar squats
Worked Up to
104 kg x 1
124 kg x 1
134 kg x 1
139 kg x 1
64 kg x 5

3 belt squat
2 x 10

Notes:

  • everyday is leg day? :smiley:
  • now on to competition on saturday
498

10.06. - write up of “Lamspringe’s Strongest Man”

This competition marks my second comp as an athlete and my first as a host/ organizer. So this write up will include my view from both sides.

The prep:
As a competitor:
I actually didn’t have a lot of time to train and most of the time I couldn’t get more than two training session in per week. I had a lot of stress, some of it from hosting the competition. I also injured my elbow/ triceps which limited my ability to do upper body work and even squat without a ssb or cambered bar.
In my prep I focused heavily on the log lift and deadlift. At first I aimed to hit the 181 kg but I realized that it probably wasn’t going to happen so I switched last minute to training for reps at 151 kg.

The competition
As a host:
I could not be happier about how everything went. The atmosphere was great and everyone was cheered on. All athletes gave it their all and we saw some great performances and a lot of personal bests. I have to thank a lot of people, my partners who were kind enough to let me host this competition inside the cheese factory, my parents who helped me with the catering (we offered beverages, waffles, cake, grilled steak and sausage, salads and more), my girlfriend and a very good friend of mine who served as judges and everyone who came to either compete or watch!

As a competitor:
To be honest I was much more nervous about hosting the event than participating as an athlete. My prep wasn’t great and I probably wasn’t in the best shape that I could have been in. Still, I wanted to have a good showing and at least give it everything that I have this day. I went in very relaxed because as I said I couldn’t get my head off the things that needed my attention. Big thanks to all helpers as they tried to take that off me so I could focus on my performance after all.

Event 1
Event one was the log lift . last man standing style. We started with 41 kg and increased with 10 kg jumps. From 81 kg on we increased by 5 kg.
This was clearly my best event - or so I thought going in. I think no one there has touched a log before and I had an obvious advantage.
Only three people completed 86 kg and 91 kg and for 96 kg it was up to me and one other guy. I have never got more than 91 kg in training but with all the adrenaline of a strongman competition, 96 just flew up like butter! The other guy did 96 kg just as easy and so we loaded 101 kg. To be honest, I did not think that we would get that high. My rival did get 101 kg, so the pressure was on me. I psyched myself up, walked up to it, gave my signal and actually cleaned it! I could not lock it out unfortunately. Even though this is light weight with a barbell, the log felt unbelievabely heavy on my chest. Gave it to good pushes but it wasn’t going to happen.

This means I did hit a PR of 96 kg and a PR clean of 101 kg (if you follow my log and go back you can see me struggle with 81 kg and fail at 86 kg not too long ago). Really pleased with my performance.
Second place finish.

Event 2
Axle tire deadlifts for reps, 90 seconds time limit. You could choose to either lift 151 kg or 181 kg. Straps allowed. I chose 151 kg because there was no switching allowed (if you fail 181 kg, you zero). In hindsight I should have chosen 181 kg but whatever.
I completed 10 reps and then died on the floor. Reps are not a strong point for me. However this marks another PR!
Unfortunately this was a 5th place finish, so it did cost me a good amount of points. Not mad, all good.

To conclude: 10 reps is a PR, 6th place finish

Event 3:
Sandbag over bar, 1.20 m loading height and 55 kg weight. Time limit of 60 seconds.
I completed 12 reps and then again died on the floor. 12 reps was another PR and enough for a shared 3rd place.

PR of 12 reps and shared 3rd place.

Event 4
Car push uphill. 32 m was the course. If you finished it, time was measurement and if you don’t, distance.
This came as a big suprise to me. Tha guy who got on to win the show got about 26 meters, the guy who came second overall (huge kid at 2.03m and 125 kg) got it to 30 meter. I actually got it all the way across the finisch line as the only guy there. This was about two car lengths more than my best attempt in training! Big PR and hell of a grinder event.

Big PR, event win, first place.

Overall
I got 3rd place overall, mainly because of my poor deadlift. I am very satisfied with my showing though because I hit PR in every single discipline.
Also very proud of all the other competitors who gave it their all, showed great fights and hit multiple PRs for themselves.
As a host I was proud as hell about the outcome. No one injured themselve badly, the show was a good, smooth run. Atmosphere was great and I got overwhelmingly good feedback. I am really happy about this and I had lots of fun.

Videos to follow, bad internet at my girlfriend’s. Will probably be able to upload everything on thursday.

3 Likes
499

Sounds great! Glad things went well for you.

1 Like
500

Awesome! Nice work on that log clean man!

1 Like
501

12.06.

Early Training. A Lot of trainings will look like this because shifts have changed at work. Was pretty tired and didn’t have breakfast beforehand.

1 wide(r) grip bench press
90 kg x 6
90 kg x 6
90 kg x 6
90 kg x 6
90 kg x 5 failed 6th

2 DB bench press
5 x 10 @ 25 kg

3 HS seated row
45 kg per side x 8
35 kg per side x 10, 10
25 kg per side x 12, 12

4a band pull aparts
4 x 15

4b Push ups
8, 5

5 DB curls
2 x ?

Notes:

  • CNS was probably still a little cooked
  • this grip feels really weird, not powerful and strange
  • Not used to this volume at all! This was freaking terrible. My chest was never so pumped up. I will have DOMS for weeks :o
  • next week is vacation, until then I will continue to test the new programm and then after our vacation I will jump in seriously.
1 Like
502

14.06.

Didn’t sleep a lot and trained before work again.

1 conv. deadlift (of one mat)
Up to
120 x 3
140 kg x 1
155 kg x 1
170 kg x 1 - never been this easy
180 kg x 1 - PR! Milestone reached here. 4 plates both Stands
185 kg x 0
185 kg x 0 - just spend and also was focused at 180, so I didn’t really commit here.
140 kg x 6

2 Bent over row
70 kg x 8
70 kg x 10

3 45° Back raises
12 with 20 kg, dropped plate and 10 reps more with BW.

Notes:

  • Not only happy to hit this because of the circumstances but… This was a fucking speed rep! Back rounded a little, not too bad, but this was freaking fast!
  • 180 kg was the goal today and I knew it would happen. After how effortless 170 kg was, there was no doubt anymore.
  • if I look back at how I started with conventional deadlifts Not Long Abo (Not being able to hit 150 kg with good form and topping out at about 160 kg) and how I do now, I think I can be really satisfied with my progress.
  • no time after deadlifts, had to go to work.
  • Video of PR pull to come
1 Like