I think there is a need. We all need to see what’s possible and how its done.
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@alex_uk Thanks dude!
@dagill2 Understandable with how prone I am to them, haha. It’s nice to break past 5s and 10s. And definitely on board with showing what is possible. I broke it down somewhere else before, but I’m not a natural athlete in the slightest, I’ve received zero coaching, I got Ds in my hard science courses and completely don’t understand biology, have had several injuries that required surgery, full time job with family obligations, etc etc. That’s not a sob story, but a demonstration of the degree of “averageness” I represent. There’s SO much more possible out there.
@zeptrey I have a v-handle like you’d use for a cable rig and a landmine.
I think it’s that exact one, haha.
I don’t elevate my height on the t-bar row, but when I do deficit pulls I’ll stand on rubber patio pavers, which are the same things I use to elevate the implements when I pull from a short ROM.
@flappinit Thanks dude! Means a lot from you. Strength has definitely seemed to have stabilized and started to rebound. And yeah, I’ve dealt with a few questions from dudes clocking in at the double to triple XL level about “How did you cut without losing all your strength and muscle?” It’s a tough pill to swallow that a lot of “size” isn’t muscle for many dudes.
@anna_5588 I have no desire to make anyone feel bad. My hopes would be that these things make you feel good, because they show you what is possible. Positive mental self imaging is a big part of the process. It’s why the start of this log, recovering from ACL surgery and at absolute rock bottom physically it was “Rebirth of the Juggernaut”. You always gotta have faith in yourself.
@simo74 Years later I found out I had heard it from an Indiana Jones movie, so I’ll have to be careful with copyrights, haha.
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This is not a fully fleshed out thought, so bear with me, but it feels like this is a big point to pick up on. Anecdotally, I tend to diet harder after a good weigh in than a bad one. I lift harder after a big PR than a big miss, etc. etc. Small success leads to bigger successes.
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A big part of it too is having to overcome so much societal conditioning to be humble. It’s unfortunately been understood as a call to be meek, and then even to go so far as to be actively self-deprecating and loathing.
I’d much rather someone in the pursuit of physical greatness be an arrogant braggart than a withdrawn kitten. Yes, ideally a middle ground would be reached that’s appreciable, but if given a direction to lean on, one needs to lean on the direction that they ARE great. When someone reads about the success of others and goes “Man, why can’t I be like that? I suck.”, they’re not going to succeed. When someone reads about the success of others and goes “Ah, so THAT’S how you do it”, they’re going to get somewhere.
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I was being facetious 
lost in internet speech
I’m not allowing any room for it in our dialogues at this point. You must forgive me.
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You have your head screwed on just right. Compatible with your muscles.
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Something I’ve been mulling over for a few months now, hope you don’t mind me picking your brain?
I did a lot of 531 and focused on the big 4 for years (because the spreadsheet I had was about as no brain programming as you can get, and I made regular progress, probably still screwed up the accessory work; that wasn’t on the spreadsheet…).
I found that this was great at improving the big 4 but had limited carry over to real life (probably enough for everyday needs but there are sometimes in my life where I need more than the everyday strength requirements), it was this mulling over in my head that led me to Dark Horse, but I’m still thinking I can do more to targeted stuff that might very occasionally be required of me (dragging/carrying bariatrics whilst out of breath loaded up with kit and in a super hot environment).
In dark horse there is room in the accessories for strongman stuff, so super long preamble ramble out of the way - is strongman the solution to getting better at real life awkward, stressful, uncomfortable lifting? (In my head it’s about the perfect tool).
If it is a good fit for my odd requirements, what would be your top movements (however many you want to include) for building a bullet proof body with well rounded strength and athleticism?
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Your mindset couldn’t be much further from average. That makes up for everything that is average about you.
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How much awkward lifting do you actually do in real
Life!?
Remember that if you get good at moving awkward stuff you then open yourself up to being asked to help all your fiends to move shit. Just ask @T3hPwnisher
Fortunately very very little - but when I do need to do it, it means brown stuff has hit the fan and I want to be able to absolutely have no doubts about strength and conditioning.
Most of it is lifting heavy awkward kit and very occasionally people - people are the concern, they don’t come in standardised sizes or have handles!
Sand bags or maybe kegs are a good option if you want to get good at moving bodies. Anything where the weight is not uniform and the object is unbalanced should do the trick. It wouldn’t be too hard to do something simple loading type training at home with sandbags, tyres, kegs.
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Yea sandbags were on my wish list - cheap and adjustable!
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@Koestrizer But even the mindset is simply a product of training, no different than the muscles. I had a meek mindset too. I was very shy, withdrawn, thought poorly of myself, etc. Like progressive resistance, like going from 1 push up to 2, it was just a series of decisions to do something different and, in many cases, simply faking it until I made it. The decisions eventually become habits.
Dietary compliance is a great example for me. I genuinely don’t get tempted by food these days, and it’s less about being a robot and more about the fact that I’ve consistently made the decision NOT to succumb to temptation for so long that NOW it’s just normal for me to make that decision. It now feels very alien to deviate from that course, such that I’m so used to turning down good food I don’t even notice I’m doing it and experience no regret from it.
@alex_uk So here’s the rub: there is no strongman. “Strongman” as a sport has no pre-defined characteristics or events. Sure, there are things that are common, but the fact is, without a specific competition to train for, there’s really no “strongman training”. Once a competition shows up and the events are announced, strongman athletes will start to focus their training around those specific events and that will tailor their approach. It’s why you see the pros start to get heavier in weight during the Arnold season and they USED to get lighter when WSM would roll around, because traditionally the Arnold was a heavier show while WSM was more focused around athleticism. Same athletes: different approaches and outcomes.
I bring all that up to say that “strongman” isn’t going to be the solution here so much as simply doing the things you need to do to get better at the things you want to get better at.
@simo74 Nailed it with sandbags and kegs. Cheap, awkward, and infinite possibilities as far as conditioning goes. Any heavy awkward object will go a long way. In the interim, you can always make a stone trainer
That’s honestly just a loading pin, which you can also make even cheaper by getting a 2" pipe nipple and a flange and then a solid set of screw collars.
Load it up with bumper plates so it looks like this
You can pick it up, carry it, run with it, etc.
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Don’t you start with a matrix-esque mind bending re-defining of my paradigm!
There is no strongman?!
Joking aside great advice thanks, pretty much inline with my thinking, I will look to add some intentional awkwardness to my training!
Sand bags will definitely be first, the stone trainer is a great idea - I only have standard metal plates not bumpers, so that might be precarious if I drop it. Keg might be a possibility - I live near a brewery.
I quite fancy a log but not sure how much use it’ll be for me. I’ve got fat grips I should probably use more too!
Thanks again, your log is a gold mine!
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@alex_uk Logs are pretty awesome. They aren’t quite as versatile as a keg or sandbag, but the log viper press is a fantastic full body movement, and getting stronger at presing logs makes you strong all over. Can also set them up for incline and flat benching with the right rig, which can reduce ROM and use neutral handles, which can save beat up shoulders.
I honestly never cared for fat gripz. I only use them on ab wheel, since it beats up my elbows less.
AM WORKOUT
1-notch incline DB bench 105s
1x16
1x11
1x9
Axle bench press 210+chains
2x10
1x8
Incline swiss bar bench 195
3x10
Pull ups between sets of benching
5x8
5x7
1x10
Dips
1x42
1x35
1x33
Poundstone curls
116xAxle
CONDITIONING
Tabata intervals on the BAS (20 seconds on/10 seconds off for 8 rounds)
Notes: 3:00 between benching, 2:00 between dips. Alternate sets of flat bench with incline bench. Starting the next wave of this experiment, where I’ve set the incline on the bench to the lowest setting, will do that for 3 weeks, then move it up and start it all over again. Will keep inclining it until it’s not feasible, and will get creative from there. So far, I’m liking how it’s panning out.
Started flat benching up on my toes again, after about 9 years of flat footed benching. It’s not a dramatic amount, but it’s there. Just felt right today.
The 3 minutes of rest felt super long compared to what I’ve been doing. Conditioning must be improving.
On the BAS, I just did straights the whole time. Wanted to keep moving. They were powder puff shots, just meant to keep my arms moving and shoulders aching. Answered the mail for sure.
I re-read Super Squats yesterday after about 14 years since I had read it last. It’s still a solid read. This was after having finished Complete Keys the Progress the night before. Makes me want to re-read Powerlifting Basics AGAIN, even though I had done that like 3 months ago. Just a great library. I picked up Josh Bryant’s “Tactical Strongman” and will give that a shot tonight. I’m still going through my other stuff too, with a chapter a day of “Thus Spake Zarathustra”, a book of Nordic Mythology and “Bushido: The Soul of Japan”, but it’s been kinda nice to get back to my meathead roots.
EDIT: Oh yeah, did the high fat pre-training meal again. This time, I was feeling pretty foggy at the start of the workout, but after about the first 2 sets of DB benching it got better, and toward the end my energy levels were solid. I do think I’m rushing my nutrition a bit. When my wife is home, I wait until she goes for her lunchtime run to do my workout, so I’ll eat my breakfast at around 0600, pre-training meal at 0900, and start lifting at around 1015. When she’s away, breakfast at 0600, pre-training meal at around 0730 and lifting at 0830. Still some factors at play, but the experimenting is fun. I’ve never really cared about nutrition before, so it’s now a new thing to play with.
Just a quick question on your time management skills, because you seem to be able to squeeze a lot of “stuff” into every day. Any particular tactics or secrets there?
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No real secret in my case: I’m currently a shift worker, and my job right now is basically sitting at a work center and being on call for 8 hours. There is VERY little demand signal for my particular job (it’s one of those that WHEN I am needed, it’s intense, so it makes up for how infrequently I am needed), and the powers that be have no objection to me reading on the job, so I maximize that free time as best as I can. I’ve had a few jobs like that, and during those times I make the most of it and read voraciously because there will soon come times when I don’t have that and have to put the reading on the back burner.
And for the past several months, my shifts have started in the afternoon and ended in the evening, so I have mornings to get a lot of stuff done. Paired with the fact I can’t sleep past 0600 these days (and keep getting up earlier and earlier) and I now have a LOT of time to do things.
I find myself more and more intrigued by the specifics of your job. I’m fully aware you can’t share, and there are very good reasons why not, so that’s not me trying to coax you into anything.
Back on topic then, I suspect the big take away is “sleep less”?
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Sleep less and maximize periods of extended downtime. For reading specifically, always carry a book with you. Since smart phones are real, get the Kindle app and exercise the discipline of reading a book on it whenever you have time to wait vs just screwing around on the phone, if a physical book is a no go.
For the job, easiest way to understand it is I am effectively a technical expert/advisor for a system that is rarely ever used/needed. I have to keep my knowledge current so that other people don’t need to do the same.