Couldn’t decie if it was better to do trap bar walks today and deadlifts tomorrow or the other way around. Decided on trap bar walks today. It rained a little and I would like it to be warmer.
1 Trap bar walks
46kg for 2x ca. 40m
86kg for 2x ca. 40m
126kg for 1x ca. 40m
146kg for 2x ca. 40m
Notes:
This was the first time doing a movement like this
Working out on the cold really aggravates my left SI-joint causing my left erector to tighten up and hurt. This is nothing new to me and the more I warm up the better it usually gets. To minimize the risk of damage I used my belt even for the lightest weight.
The pick up on the 146kg was very slow and I walked very slow too. I was never about to drop it but I felt every little bump in the road as it caused me to shift around.
My SI-joint problems ended alltogether with the first run with 146kg. I have no idea why but I couldn’t feel the slighest discomfort anymore.
For having done this the first time I am okay with the result. I feel like the pick up may be my weak point here. Just from today’s feeling I would say I can walk with everything I can pick up (maybe not for 40m but for a few steps surely)
Your experience with the trap bar walks sounds a lot like my experience with the farmers walks.
For your SI joint, do you keep your wallet in your back left pocket? I started taking mine out when I sit down, and that has helped quite a bit. Sitting unevenly can cause some alignment issues and stuff.
I also noticed the same thing with my joints; my back, shoulders and knees. It was really strange, but it was a good thing.
I initially did the farmers walks in shoes with no arch support (just a pair of driving shoes) and noticed my feet and ankles were pretty painful after. That went away when I changed to shoes with arch support. Just something to watch out for; it’s a lot of load your feet aren’t used to.
Enjoy the soreness in your everywhere for the next couple days.
@Lorez: I don’tkeep my wallet in my left back pocket but I do sit crooked pretty often. My SI-joint problems most likely originate from mixed grip deadlifting (yes imbalances are not a myth) and wearing the wrong shoes to work. My SI-joint was out of allignment last year and my physio fixed it. Once this happens it is more likely to happen again so if this continues to be a problem I will have to meet up with my physio again. It is not nearly as bad as last year though (I switched to healthier shoes). But last year it forced me to pull out injured from a competition.
I totally get what you mean about the soreness by now. My hamstrings, glutes, calves and traps are really sore. Luckily my back isn’t.
06.02.
1 Axle clean and press
36 kg x5
46 kg x5
66 kg x1
76 kg x3/ x3/ x4
2 Axle deadlift off two mats
76 kg for a few
2x 96 kg for a few
2x 116 kg for a few
126 kg x2
136 kg x1/ x1/ x3 (t&g)
116 kg x1
3 Kneeling ab rollouts
3 x8
Notes:
My body was feeling yesterdays workout but I had to get in the work today
clean and press are still hard but the 3rd set felt the best of the three. I am slowly figuring out how to fight this beast (I wont dare to speak from technique here)
my back just did not want to deadlift. I focused on getting as tight as possible and went up in weight but I did not want to push it to the limit today. Will have to do a deadlift workout were I am fresh next week. Wanted to do a back off set with 116kg for max reps but my back was just begging me to stop,so I did to be sure to not hurt myself.
Repaired myself today with foam rolling and stretching. Felt like it was much needed. Trying to find out if I should do farmer’s walks or clean and press tomorrow. Hoping the weather won’t cross my plans of course.
Decided on clean and press. I feel like the Axle clean and press is a very unique movement. In the powerlifts, let alone olympic lifts, it is all about technique and positioning. If you fail a squat you can usually See that your hip shifted, you lost tightness or pretty rarely did everything right but were not strong enough. With the Axle especially for reps I feel it is a lot more about “how bad do you want it”? Maybe it is just me or the reason for this is that I am fat and unconditioned but that is what went through my head in today’s Workout.
1 Axle clean and press
36 kg x some
46 kg x few
56 kg x several
66 kg x 1 or 2
76 kg x4/ x4/ x5
2 Axle press (clean once)
56 kg x 12
3 Axle strict press (clean once)
46 kg x 10
4 Axle bent rows
3 x 10-12 with 46 kg
5 lateral raises
5 kg plate X 25
6 Band pull aparts
50 reps
Notes:
Good workout, I am happy with the results
to get the 5th on the 3rd set I had to step back a bit, get my air and really convince myself I can do this. After that I got the rep. This is what I meant in the intro Text…
everything after the clean and press was pretty submaximal
I can get around fhree reps without a Problem on the clean and press but after that it gets a struggle. Mainly because of my Bad conditioning I think
Hi, i wanted to write a pn but don’t know how. I did the beginners cup a year ago and may be able to help a little.
The Axle was a 49mm pipe back then without any knurling. And Farmers pick up was easy. It was 10kg above my deadlift max and no Problem at all. I even did a good time, allthough i had the wrongest shoes possible.
(I’ll keep the conversation in english in case someone wants to follow it)
Really cool that you stop by! What was your experience with the competition? At which weight did you compete and does that even matter? Which of the events did you struggle the most with? Do you have any tips for me on how to prepare or especially for competition day since you have done the same one? And lastly: I suppose you have read through my log and have gathered that I am not a strong guy by any means. So like every beginner I guess, I am a bit worried that I will not be good enough for the competition and that everyone will be atleast two times as strong as me.
First of all: I was just sligthly stronger the you so don’t worry. There were some a lot stronger then me and a few weaker. Just Do it for fun and experience. The most struggle was the tire-deadlift (car-deadlift). Because there were two real deadlift monsters in the field (both about 300kg deadlifters) they decided to raise the weight to something completly unreachable for me. I ended up doing a 75 second isometric excercise
Also: stable shoes are a must have for Farmers. Take some babyoil and a dedicated towel (geschirrtuch) with you to get rid of the tacky after the Stones. The promoters provides both but I think some poor guy came to late and the oil was emptied up. Remember to pack some Light food. And check chase karnes article on elitefts for first time competitors. That one helped me a lot.
Weight only decides with who you’er ging to compete. At GFSA contests events are equally heavy for all weight classes. There will under 95kg, under 105kg and over 105kg. I was under 95kg with seven other guys and ended up placing on place five.
If you want to and are mobile enough you (and your axle) are welcome to visit for a Session in Magdeburg.
just came across this log. very cool, will be following. I’m doing my second strongman show in 2 1/2 weeks, and then maybe another one at the end of April.
Very cool that you’re spending so much time practicing with an axle. I built one for myself about a month ago to train for my upcoming show, and it’s been hugely important for me. It’s so much different from a barbell clean.
Also, I zero’ed in the deadlift event at my first show. It doesn’t matter. Still one of the best days of my life. The experience of competing is like nothing else.
@buckaubarbellbenni : Thank you very much, I appreciate your encouragement! I think I saw a video of your year’s competition. Didn’t Dorian Berger compete that year? Magdeburg isn’t terribly far away so that sounds good. Work schedule is terrible though :D. At what kind of gym do you train?
@telfordp283 : I still plan on doing this in the future. I am sure it is brutal.
@flipcollar : Thank you very much, I appreciate your support! I didn’t know you have already done a strongman competition. Yeah the axle really is a beast! Is the axle event in your competition for reps or may weight? I wish you the best of luck too and am looking forward to your write up!
Yea I did one 2 years ago, in June. I logged about it, if you want to read about it, you can find it there. I was horribly unprepared. I got in very little practice with the implements beforehand, and on top of that, the events were scaled poorly for the lightweight competitors. Really not a good show.
My axle in this show is a clean/press for max reps at 205 lbs, in 60 seconds. The clean only has to be performed once, it’s just max reps on the press part. I think I can get at least 8 reps, based on my training numbers. Also, I’m a LW (under 200 lbs bw) competitor.
Yes I think I remember that guy. Also on of the Berlin Strenght/Strenght wars guys. The bald one. The gym i train at is my gym. It’s a non-profit garage-type gym Run by me, my girl and a friend. Just Google for “Buckau Barbell”. If you want to come around just Teller me a few days before so we can meet and train some. I’m flexible since I’m in school for physical therapists all my weekends belong to me.
@flipcollar : clean once and press away sounds like a dream to me! Do you want to pursue strongman rather than powerlifting in the future?
@buckaubarbell : found pictures on the Internet. Holy shit! That looks just great! I always wanted to try both, a safety squat bar and a reverse hyper. Amazing set up! I would have to borrowe a bigger car to bring my Axle though because my Axle is probably longer than my car anyway I am seriously excited to come down there. I will figure out my schedule and reach back to you.
I’m pursuing both, no reason to have to choose at this point. Most of my training is still centered around the ‘big 3’ lifts. At this point, I think I’m better at powerlifting than strongman. We’ll see if this competition changes my mind. But right now, I’m capable of somewhere between a 1550-1600 unwrapped total at under 200 lbs bw (as a 181 if I made a big water cut). Strongman is a lot of fun though, and I’m definitely getting better at it. I’ve only actually done about 5 dedicated strongman workouts total. Never trained specifically for it before last month.
@flipcollar : I remember you as a really good powerlifter. I don’t want to compare myself to you here because I am not acutally a powerlifter nor a strong guy but I did mostly powerlifting type training in the past. Compared to training for strongman I think it is quite boring because of its lack of variety.
12.02.
Quick evening workout after work.
1 slingshot bench press: 3x8 with 100 kg, 80 kg for 6 reps drop set
1b seated cable rows, some for a few
2 close grip push up: 12, 8
2b lat pulldown
3 bicep curls: 35 reps with a little bit of weight
4 band pull aparts: 120 reps
Notes:
after about 2 months of no chest training I am quite pleased with this
added my slingshot after I got to 80 kg to save my somewhat injured pec. Benching was alright for my pec but I felt safer with my slingshot. The thing is I can’t do any type of fly (I don’t use this for my training anyway) and sometimes when I flex my pec i get a sharp pain that lasts for a few seconds. I am not sure what to think about this but i will figure it out after my competition.
for pull aparts I got 70 reps unbroken and then did 10 reps followed by a 3-5 second pause till I had 120.
We also did a random measurement to find out who has got the biggest biceps in the gym (of the people who were there) and I won. I suppose this is the meathead’s equivalent of a dick measurement contest
It was 1-3°C outside today and it snowed last night, I had to wear multiple layers of clothes and warm up extra carefully but it was working.
1 Axle Deadlifts from 1 mat (most likely lower than competition height)
56 kg for 2 sets
96 kg for 2 sets
116 kg for 2 sets
136 kg x2
146 kg x1
151 kg x1 (PR)
156 kg x1 (PR)
161 kg x0
161 kg x0
2 Trap Bar Deadlifts
Worked up to 126 for 12 touch&go
3 Axle bent over rows
2x 56kg x8-10
Notes:
Was training with a friend and long time training partner of mine today. Training with him helps me push harder and I have more fun training together than training alone.
Unfortunately I don’t have that on video but my friend did one of the most impressive feats of will power I have ever seen. He first failed 151 and then returned to give it a second go. It was like he was moving in slow motion. Not like a slow lift, even slower. I thought there is no way he is going to get this up. His back started to round badly but he didn’t let go. I couldn’t believe it when he got it up to his knees and then even higher I started shouting “hips!” because I realized he is really going top get this. An amazing lift in my book, not because of weight lifted or technique demonstrated but because of refusal to accept defeat.
Three weeks ago I needed three runs to lift 146 kg off blocks. Today I lifted 156 kg which did not feel easy but moved quickly. i am not worried that I failed 161 kg. I have four more weeks to get this weight.
Wanted to do farmer’s walks instead of just trap bar deadlifts but the ground was too slippery, so risk of injury was unnecessary high .
Feeling more dedicated than ever! Normally I would have stopped at lower weight because my upper back started to round on deadlifts but I just kept pushing and accepted it. Not to say that I am stupid in my training but a lot of things I read about training menatlity in some logs on here (like in ThePwnishers) start to make more sense to me.
