[quote]Hot AZ wrote:
TNT -
you should start a thread about the girls you train. They are very inspirational and I’ll bet the Vixens would love it!
[/quote]
“Little T-Vixens” - copyright, Registered trademark, patent pending, etc.
Thank you.
TNT
Here is another installment of our training. Scott came today and for those of you that are thinking that there won’t be competition at the AZ Strongman Contest you guys obviously haven’t seen Scott lift. One word comes to mind, STUD! Have fun everyone!
http://www.bluecollarathlete.com/html/videos/Oly%20Comp%20-%209.11.04/SMTIV-11.27.05.wmv
Great video guys and girls. From the first video to this recent one, you have all come far. I’m looking forward to meeting you all at Scott’s competition.
Great video. I can’t understand why everyone is wearing long sleeves and long pants when there isn’t any snow on the ground.
TNT
Sweet video. Josh and Ray are making huge progress. These guys have only been doing this for a few months, but I expect some good performances in January. Ray’s already deadlifting more than 2x bodyweight on the 2" axle and I fully expect Josh to log press 220 for 8 to 10 reps. You guys inspired me to get my deadlift and press back up for AZ contest.
Good meeting you Troy, you looked strong on that log and had good pop on the clean. Thanks for the video footage.
Definitely great to have Scott out.
One thing I found interesting yesterday, and this appears to carry-over into more elite strongman training/contests. That there subtle differences in strengths and weakness of each athlete, which is probably what makes the contests so interesting.
This AZ contest should be pretty damn cool.
Troy you are definitely right. Some events are better for shorter guys (mechanical advantage) while other events are better suited for taller guys. An easy example is if you have short arms, your log press will be easier, but loading stones will be harder.
I have been told that if I compete in my own contest some people might complain (should I do well) and say I catered the events towards my own strengths. All I have to say to that is 1) my log press sucks, 2) i have only done farmers twice in the last 3 months due to a slight tear in my trap, 3) i have no yoke to practice with yet, 4) i have not deadlifted in 3 months b/c of the trap injury. Haha!
I’m still not sure if I will be able to compete but I will definitely train for it.
Scott,
No matter WHAT you do, someone is going to be happy. Just gotta accept that as fact. Looking at the events they are pretty balanced between maximal strength, strength endurance, and levers. I really don’t think the events favor anyone in particular.
I have found strongman to be a very hard sport to train for. I guess if my maximal strength levels were higher then it may be easier. The conditioning doesn’t bother me, but it is difficult to find balance within the training with endurance, maximal strength, and staying injury free.
I know I am well behind some of you guys, but it drives me to want to get substantially better. I think in time it will happen. I have never been a great maximal strength guy so I am going to try to bank more on the log, farmers, and medley. I think I have potential with stones because of my height and arm length, but will take more practice. Squat and deadlift events are going to be my downfall. In the end, I hope to be competitive and hold some respect in the end. It is fun!!
[quote]Josh Henkin wrote:
Scott,
No matter WHAT you do, someone is going to be happy. Just gotta accept that as fact. Looking at the events they are pretty balanced between maximal strength, strength endurance, and levers. I really don’t think the events favor anyone in particular.[/quote]
I know…can’t please everyone. The good thing is that I got the word out about the events well in advance so it’s not like I have an advantage and can train them specifically while others can’t. As far as the events being balanced, I agree.
Log - favors short levers - strength endurance
Farmers - no mech. adv. - grip strength
Yoke/Tire medley - no mech. adv. - conditioning event
Axle Deadlift - favors big hands, longer arms, short legs - maximal strength
Arm-over-arm - no mech. adv. - arm strength
Stones - favors longer levers - strength endurance
[quote]
I have found strongman to be a very hard sport to train for. I guess if my maximal strength levels were higher then it may be easier. The conditioning doesn’t bother me, but it is difficult to find balance within the training with endurance, maximal strength, and staying injury free.[/quote]
Possibly try having 2 max effort days, a lower body and an upper body and then your event days, which are Wed/Sat/Sun. For example, train ME legs on Monday, events on Wed at my house, ME press on Friday, and events on the weekend. I’d stick to 2-3 events and possibly add in a recovery workout on Sat or Sun.
As for injuries, it’s just apart of the sport. There’s no avoiding them once you get to a certain strength level. Train smart and you can minimize them but learning to deal with pain is necessary.
[quote]
I know I am well behind some of you guys, but it drives me to want to get substantially better. I think in time it will happen. I have never been a great maximal strength guy so I am going to try to bank more on the log, farmers, and medley.
I think I have potential with stones because of my height and arm length, but will take more practice. Squat and deadlift events are going to be my downfall. In the end, I hope to be competitive and hold some respect in the end. It is fun!![/quote]
You aren’t that far behind. Look at Brad. He went from 0 to 7 flips with the 750 in 2 months. And went from loading a 260 stone to a 330 in about 3 months. You have a good starting strength level and once the technique is there for some of the events I expect you to get much stronger.
Scott,
Good ideas! I am thinking of going heavy on front squats and strict military just to get my overhead endurance up. I think 10 reps on the log is more than reasonable.
Yep, pretty much have accepted that injuries are a part of the game and haven’t sufferred anything yet that would keep me from training (knock on wood). I think listening to your body is really important and knowing when not to push it as you and Troy mentioned.
Things have been crazy for me, which is no excuse, so I hope moving into my new place will give me some peace of my mind and better focus. Training with you guys really helps put into perspective how hard you have to push yourself and what level you have to be at to be competitive.
I am actually feeling pretty good about the comp. as of now, assuming I don’t do anything stupid. It will be interesting to play some strategy and know when to push it during the comp and when to try to just pick-up some points. With the deadlift before the stones I know I will have to be careful how far I decide to push it.
In any event. It is fun to fool around with different ideas and experiment to find out what works for each person. Getting that yoke this past weekend did give me confidence that I can start changing my focus from just getting the weights to really moving with them. Stones will be a challenge, but a focus on those Wed., I’ll be happy to get over 300 by end of Dec.
Saw the video, dang, Riann kicked butt again. I was so jealous that I was in the cold, tundra of WI instead home training with you guys. I’ll be there on Sunday, ready to go!
Looking forward to meeting Scott, he has been so helpful with all my questions via email 
Training continues for the Jan 06 AZ Strongman contest.
On this week’s film:
-Regular trying to manage back to back strongman days
-
Newbies getting their 1st go
-
Killer tire flipping drill
Enjoy
http://www.bluecollarathlete.com/html/videos/Oly%20Comp%20-%209.11.04/SMT12405.wmv
what a blast. Definitely glad that i made it out this weekend. Thanks for having me. Also apologize to the neighbors for my unitentional landscaping, breakfast burritos and tire flipping do not mix.
Can’t wait until next weekend.
The word is spreading.
AZCSCS, hope to see you at the contest.
HotAZ, try wearing a belt on log. You can keep it somewhat loose if you want and only push it in a little so you leave a little loop coming out. Place the log on top of the belt loop and sit down with the log a little after you row it in, then focus on popping it and rolling it up your chest. This will help.
Women, wear tighter clothing on stones. Having baggy shirts and big shorts is not going to help you get that stone up!! 
Also, try to stand over the stone more, which will allow you to use your legs and back more.
Machine~
Thanks for the suggestions! I learned alot this weekend, each week it gets a little easier to hit the goals
Also, thank you again for having us over. It was great fun playing in your rock garden!
Scott,
To quote my wife, “I don’t have any good stone lifting clothes!” Which has led her to wearing mine, therefore the ghetto look;) I am trying to prevent giving her a reason to go shopping, but I might have to bite the bullet.
Being over at your house really helped the ladies get some important tips and motivation. I have overdone it myself a bit and am going to have to more closely monitor my event days. Starting to feel a touch of the overtranining bug.
BTW, just got a glute-ham and my hamstrings are killing me! I think it should help though once I get adapted. I have sorta adapted a different type of workout based upon your suggestion and time I have available.
3 event days: 1 is going to be light and speed work
Day 1: Front Squat and glute ham
Day 2: Lower body assistance circuit-lunges, kb swings, ab work
Day 3: events
Day 4: Side Press and rows
Day 5: Upper body assistance circuit-Ring dips, pull-ups, rotational ab work
Day 6: event
Day 7: light event conditioning
Most of the days are 30 minute workouts after the warm-up and we will see if this works better. Any thoughts?
I’m going to be all over this come January!
Am I big enough to work out w/ you guys???
dcfball, are you planning on competing???
The contest is quickly approaching and I’d suggest you get your entry form mailed to me in the next 2 weeks.
Let me know if you have any questions.
p.s. if you’re 240, you are definitely big enough. haha!
Here’s another solid week of training at the Henkin House.
This week’s training is pretty action packed, we tested out a new medley.
As usually steady progress by everyone. Martin set a big time
PR on the tire and Josh was pretty impressive on the log clean press.
The girls have significantly “cleaned” things up technically over the last couple weeks, and are all getting very competitive. Really nice to see out to them.
Until next week enjoy.
http://www.bluecollarathlete.com/html/videos/Oly%20Comp%20-%209.11.04/SMT121105.wmv
Troy M Anderson