Goodluck! Go crush it
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Get after it man!
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Give em hell! Remember the UMPH!
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Kick some ass
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Kill it homie!
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Go getāem Mate 
Hope there will be some videos of you working hard with that very special technique of yours POWER THROUGH
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Thanks all! I just got back. I will do a big update in a bit, but bottom line is I won. Took first in 4 of 5 events with a very close second place on the carry medley. Somehow took first on the throwing. No idea where that came from.
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Let me be the first.
F*ck Hell yeah congratulation man, you deserve it.
POWER!
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Congrats!
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Hard work pays off
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Righteous. Nice work dude, especially on the surprise throwing performance 
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First the video
This marks my 12th strongman competition, and 3rd after ACL reconstruction. When I originally signed up, it was as a middle weight, as the cut off for lightweight was 175lbs, and I wasnāt going to cut that much. I trained for the MW weights for the 2 months leading up to the competition and was sure I wasnāt going to zero an event, but 2 weeks before the comp they upped the MLW class limit to 200lbs and I made the switch. It means I was training with a different strategy than usual, but it also meant my static strength was up and I had put on some muscle in the training cycle as I was trying my best to gain SOME quality weight to make up the difference. Hell, being bigger and stronger is rarely a bad thing.
I already had my invite to nationals from a prior comp, so my goal here was to come back home to the Central Coast of CA and have some fun. Brining home hardware would be a bonus.
COMPETITION EVENTS/RESULTS
I weighed in at 199.0 the day before the competition, in full clothes with my wallet, keys and phone in my pocket. The day of the comp, I got to warm-up by carrying an ice chest full of food and beverages about a mile through the fair in over 100 degree heat while arriving seconds before the rules meeting at the competition. I managed to stop sweating just about in time for the first event, and figured that this was a good enough warm-up.
Event 1: Log clean and press away 225lbs
I signed up for the competition as soon as it was available, which meant I had the advantage of going last in this event. I knew I needed to beat 7 reps. In training, I had only managed 6, but that was with a Titan 12ā log, and we were using slater 10ā logs. I did my traditional āwarm-upā of 2 reps with an empty log and 1 rep with whatever was loaded by one of the female competitors during her warm-ups. The log felt like a toy compared to the Titan log.
Competitor pro-tip: The competition was set-up as head to head, but since we only had 5 competitors in my weight class and I was going last, I was going solo. Martins Licis was one of the judges, and I know from reputation he is incredibly strictā¦so I went to the other judgeās lane when I was called up.
I did what was probably a garbage clean, got set, and basically strict pressed the log. It felt like nothing, so I just kept doing it over and over again until I hit 8. I then held it overhead and chatted with the judge, asking her if 8 was the amount of reps I needed to win the event, if I DID the 8 reps I needed, and if she was sure I needed to do 8 reps to win. Certainly cocky, but I wanted to put on a good show. I had family and friends in the crowd. I shut it down at 8 to conserve my energy for the rest of the competition.
Event 2: Car Deadlift with a Honda Civic
I got to go last again because of my first place finish. The guy who got 7 reps on the log got 11 reps on this, and was the guy to beat.
Iāve pulled 32 and 34 reps on a car deadlift before, but I got to feel a REAL car deadlift this day. Frame was very stiff, and it was a tough pull. In addition, Martin Licis ruled that we would have an UP command for the deadlift, which meant no bouncing it like Iāve done before.
The first 2 or 3 reps were a bit of a system shock, but after that I found my groove. As I was lifting, I had ā12ā in my mind, and I couldnāt remember if I had to BEAT 12 or just get 12, so I got 13 just to be sure. I had about 20 seconds to spare, and once again shut it down to save energy.
Event 3: Carry Medley: 180lb sandbag, 220lb keg and 250lb hussafel stone
Got go last on this event again. This time, a dude that was more toward the middle of the pack set the distance to beat, who managed to get the sandbag and keg across and then take the stone for 5 laps and some change in his time. We had 2 lanes going, and 2 people slipped on the far lane, so I picked the near lane.
I picked the sandbag first, since they can be a pain to pick up. Carrying it was fine, but I slipped on the run back to the keg, which shook my confidence a touch since Iām still post knee surgery. I took the keg a little slower, and then went for the stone. First time ever touching the implement, and I realized how green I was when I approached it, because I never strategized HOW I was going to approach it until that exact moment. I got a garbage pick on it and just tried to brute force it for as long as I could. Time wasnāt being announced until there was 3 seconds left, and I shoulda known to ask for more of a countdown, because I was moving decent clip but found myself being the 8 ball with 3 seconds left. I motored as fast as I could, but only managed 5 laps and missed the few extra feet necessary to take first. Good enough for second place.
Learning experience on the stone: I used a sandbag to prep for it, which, though it made my back strong, I never accounted for how there would be plates sliding around in a loadable stone. The plates would rock me back and forth and clang against the metal hall and jar me pretty good. Something to be said about the benefit of specificity.
Immediately after this event, I lost the ability to extend my left arm fully without pain. Seemed like the tendons in my forearms were locked into place. Weirdly enough, I went and peed and after that I loosened back up again and was pain free. I have NO idea what that possible correlation can be, but I treated it as though I was dehydrated and just slammed more Gatorade.
Event 4: 2 hammers, 2 sandbags and 1 keg over a 15ā bar
This was the event I had the most doubt about. I hate throwing, as its all technique and explosiveness, and I have none of those things. Like a good oaf, I decided to do nothing at all to prep for this and only do things I liked in my training cycle. Right before the event, the guy who went second in the MLW told me that the best strategy was the just blitz through the first 3 implements, since only one guy managed to clear the 4th, and he also hit the 5th. It was the same guy that took second in the first two events.
I took that advice and ran with it, and ended up launching the first 2 hammers clear into the stratosphere. You can actually see on the video that they end up landing in the base camp of some competitors/spectators who thought for SURE they were safe there. The first bag wasnāt much of a challenge, and then the second bag, which had been the widowmaker of the event, went up without a fight. In total honesty, I feel like it was pure luck that carried me through on that one, and that maybe I could never replicate that shot again if I tried, but I managed. After that, I grabbed the keg, gave it a practice swing which, in hindsight, I didnāt need to do, because it was super light and easy to throw.
I legitimately have no idea HOW I threw as well as I did, as I had zero training and minimal practice and no technique whatsoever, but I ended up winning the event.
If you end up using the Rogue throwbags, people kept screwing up because they let too much slack happen in the handles. You need a slower swing, because if you try to whip the bag, it just catches on itself.
Event 5: Stone Series (145, 175, 225, 245, 275ā¦guessing on most of these)
Once this event rolled around, there was such a clear divide between me and second place that it boiled down to I would have to take dead last in the stones while second place took first in order for me to lose my first place position. That said, I still wanted to give it my all.
My plan was to one-motion as many stones as possible to move as quickly as I can. I managed to do it with all but the final stone, which was pretty cool. I actually made a first time ever mistake of applying too MUCH tacky, which I discovered the effects on with the final stone. I had difficulty getting better positioning one my hands got on it because I was effectively glued to the stone, which meant I had trouble with the initial pick. I had used comp grade spider tack this day, since it was 106 degrees and I thought a lighter blend would turn to soup in the heat, but next time I do that I need to appreciate that a little dab will do just fine.
I ended up winning this event, with enough time after completing to turn around and see the guy in second place lapping the final stone.
This was a great showing for me, and an awesome competition. Really feel like Iām firing on all cylinders. Iāve secured another nationals invite and need to decide what is next at this point. Iāll be honest: the events in nationals really donāt look super great, and I may just end up taking an off season and training how I want. I have an Alaska cruise coming up at the end of Aug, so Iāll be doing a 3 week training cycle right before that and will see how I feel from there.
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The husafell is brutal man, had one in my last comp. I learned when I was training you want to have it high up on your body and be leaning back a bit so that some of its weight is resting on your chest instead of really on just your arms holding it up. It was max distance and I could have gone forever, but I got too sweaty so it slipped out haha.
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Great Job.
You look pretty Big now.
It looks like a little work on your Triple Extension went a long way.
Does Kaz ārecognizeā you at comps?
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@theonecamko I definitely KNEW that intellectually, haha, but approaching the stone for the first time that all went out the window. I think that woulda probably kept my forearm tendon from being so pissed off. If I ever have a chance to do the stone first, I may be able to get myself into a better position.
@FlatsFarmer Thanks man! Kaz said a lot of cool things to me in congratulations, but I donāt think he remembered me.
On looking big, I felt the same. Or more to say, this was the first time I competed, saw the other guys in my class and thought they looked kinda small.
I went to Disneyland 2 days before the comp and had my Mrs take my traditional sword in the stone photo, and I could definitely see the added muscle from the last time
Also repping my NEVERsate tanktop for that trip, haha.
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Dude,Youāre arms are jacked af!
Congrats on the win btw
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I getcha, heat of the moment and it being the last thing of the medly you did, gorilla brain was like ālift stone, run stoneā. One of the guys at my comp had this fucking orangutan arms and no matter wear he grabbed it, he could lock his arms together, the bastard literally could have gone for miles.
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@theonecamko Oh for sure. I felt SO dumb approaching the stone for the first time. I did zero prep for my transitions, and it definitely showed. I DO have arms like that and shoulda been able to take advantage of that. Maybe next time.
@duketheslaya Itās all triceps and front delts, haha. Been doing so much pressing. And thanks!
@mr.v3lv3t Thanks man. It was a surprise for sure on my end. Iām still in shock over those throws.
@mattjp Thanks dude!
@mortdk Thanks man. It means a lot from you.
@BEAst_in_I Thanks for the support!
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Congrats. Really great story and video.
Still want to be you when Iām 30 again.
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Congratulations on a brilliant performance mate! Seems like it was a smooth win for you.
Kinda surprised they would use such a small log in competition. Pressing looked very strong anyhow!
Licis, Kaz, Kalle Beck (saw an instagram post that let me to believe he was there, no?)ā¦ a lot of stars and recognizable characters at that show. Pretty awesome!
Your static strength is on a next level lately. I hope you end up doing nationals.
Iāve got to agree here.
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