Vinny's Strongman Log II

Training Logs
1

Alright, so many reasons to start a new log. For one, I lost my original account so I can’t rename the misleading title of my previous log to something better. Secondly, I’m changing the pace of things. Took a long break from strongman to work out some kinks, but mostly to cultivate some useful static strength of which I felt I lacked. This log will encompass a tentative return to strongman within the foreseeable future.

I have competed twice. First show was NC Strength Challenge, July 27th, 2013 in Morrisville, NC. Second was NC’s Strongest Man, Feb. 14th, 2014 at the same venue. I placed well but I really, really wanted to get better since that second showing.

Worth mentioning that I started lifting when I was about 14. I only did upper body for several years before squatting and deadlifting. I was ill-advised so I pretty much gave myself chronic injuries that have been facilitated by a nasty leg length discrepancy that I was born with. In spite of these things they have proven to NOT be a crutch. I like to think I’m pretty strong!

22 years old, 225-240lbs depending on if near a contest or not. Let us jump right in.

3/1/16 - Will be working on some dynamic stuff/strict work on all my lifts for a bit. Started to day back doing strict log. Went well.

Strict Log Press
110x5,3
160x3
200x1 way out in front, bad rep
250x1 super easy
280x1 PR came up with no issues, had more for sure.

Z Press
135x5
185x3
185x8
185x8
185x5
185x5

Close Grip Incline Press (ring finger on knurling)
135x10
185x8
225x14 complete failure

Front Raise/Side Lateral SS
10x15/15
10x15/15
10x15/15

Face Pull
x15
x15
x15
x15

1 Like
2

Excited to see your return dude. I’d say you definitely built up some static strength. Looking forward to your next show.

3

Thanks a bunch man.

3/3/16 - Today sucked on so many levels. It was a good deload day, whatever that even means, but I still found a way to invoke a brutal and disgusting medley that I wasn’t ready for.

Front Squats
45x8
135x3
185x3
225x2
225x3
225x3
225x3 Sacrum was bugging me on all of these for some reason.

Circuit: 4 rounds of 130lb Axle Clean x 10, 110 foot Sled Push, 10 burpees, 10 windmills. 1 minute rest between each round. My ears were ringing by the end and my eyes kept closing. Definitely undermined myself here unintentionally. I mean, it was great to have completed, but holy fuck I was not expecting such difficulty in my breathing.

All in all, it’s not a big deal due to the fact that my body certainly is not ready for this magnitude of medley/circuit work. It will improve in time.

4

I’m in. Have started Strongman myself and am ridiculously impressed by your press. Remember seeing your 300lb strict and bout shitting myself. Keep going dude.

5

Thanks man. Strong dude yourself, will keep you and your log in mind time to time.

6

3/5/16 - Deload deads and knocked the dust off some stones. Did close stance sumo and it felt easier than normal sort of. Back is a little banged up from stones but it’s all good.

Close Stance Sumo
315x3
315x3
315x3

Stone Shoulders (no tack/no belt)
180x5,3
250x2,3,3,3 felt kind of strange lapping it.

My left bicep is feeling sore soon after.

Single Leg Hip Thrust
+25lbs x 12
+25lbs x 12
+25lbs x 12
BW x 15,x15,x15

Banded Mule Kicks
x12
x12
x12
x12

Knees to Elbows/Side Plank SS no rest
x8/x30s
x8/x30s
x6 (i suck at these)/x30s
x5/x30s

7

3/7/16

Bench Press
45x8,8
135x5,5
185x3
225x3
275x2
315x1
365x1
400x1 PR, butt came up a bit but it’s a lil bit of weight and I’ve been wanting this weight for a long time.

Floor Press
135x10
225x22 PR

Strict Overhead Press
135x20
145x20
145x16
95x40

Band Pull Apart
x15
x15
x15
x15

8

Crazy bench dude. Always impressive.

1 Like
9

Congrats on your bench PR Vinny! Will be following along again.

10

Thanks a bunch. I feel like now is one of the best times to be a person pursuing strength while posting on T-nation. Got guys like you and Alpha just setting such beastly examples. Very fortunate to be in that loop!

Thanks. Happy to have you along buddy.

11

I’m in for the win man.

12

Hell yeah man, thanks.

3/9/16 - Had a goal in mind for volume pause squats. Wasn’t sure how it would go before hand but it ended up being not too bad. Form break down was kinda bad toward the end of the latter two sets. No biggie, everything went well.

Also worth mentioning in the middle of the night my right leg was hanging off of my bed in such a manner that when I lifted it back up onto the bed I got a brutal pain in my upper shin below the knee. I remember writhing in pain until I fell back asleep shortly after. Likely caused from torsion of the knee and it really did not feel good. Turned out it didn’t really affect anything as far as loading on the squat. Just strange…

Pause Back Squats (no belt)
95x5
135x5
225x3
275x2
315x8
315x8
315x8
325x8

Corrective Squats (banded distraction toward left leg)
x20
x20
x20
x20

Banded Mule Kicks
x15
x20
x20
x20

Circuit:

Knees to elbows x 8,x8,x8,x6
Lying Leg Raise w/ band x 15,x15,x15,x15
Side Plank x 30s,x30s,x40s,x40s

13

Eh, hamstring is feeling funky. It felt fine during tonights training but I believe doing the stones recently put my hamstrings under a lot of stress that they weren’t used to. I’ve been hammering them with sumo deads and stuff, but because stones is kind of like a deficit deadlift, my hamstrings, specifically my upper medial got tons of work in and I can recall feeling a bit of a tug on it during one of the laps. Didn’t think anything of it and it didn’t have any long lasting effects so I brushed it off.

THAT SAID! Tonights session I performed a SUPER ugly final rep on my last set of pause squats. I dunno why, but I just said fuck it I’m done and pretty much did a good morning with it. I think both of these occurrences has caused my hamstring to tell me I’m being a fucking idiot and need to chill out. I’ll be monitoring it. Atm it will randomly feel really tight and stingy when I bend over. Sometimes it won’t, sometimes it will.

14

3/11/16 - Back and hamstring feels a bit better. Was extra cautious today as my mobility is shit from severe squat DOMS.

Bent Over Row
135x20
135x20
135x20 wide grp
135x20 wide grip

Pull Ups
x8 wide
x8 regular
+30lbs x 8
+30lbs x 6
x8
x8
x6

Lying Leg Raise
x15
x15
x15
x15

15

3/13/16 - woo, hamstring’s feeling better, back is still a bit iffy but it’s all toughening up. Doing some extra abs each day whether that’ll help or not, we’ll see.

Strict Log Press (no belt today)
110x5
160x3
200x8
200x8 holy SHIT this was hard. Wanted 4x8 but that is to be achieved another time.
180x8
160x8

All above sets were pretty max effort except the first set with 200. I had 10 or 11 in me amrap if i had used a belt. Nuttin fancy here, but exceptional overall volume I’d say. Log strict is hard! Can’t breathe for shit.

Floor Press w/ 1 sec Pause
135x8
225x3
275x2
320x5 easy, but didn’t want to push it without a spotter
300x5
225x12
205x8 holy crap, triceps are finished.

Lying Leg Raise w/ butt raise at top
x20
x20
x15
x15

Front/Side Raise SS
x15/x15
x15/x15
x15/x15

Wide Grip Axle Upright Row
60x12
60x15
60x15

Front/Side Raise SS
x15/15
x15/15
x15/15

16

Some very impressive weight being thrown around, and congrats on the bench PR. I’ll be following along for sure.

This same thing just happened to me last night, but instead of feeling discomfort in my hamstring it was my lower back that gave out. Heavy paused squats are a beast of their own as it seems very easy to lose that tightness holding for 3+secs at the bottom.

Glad to hear the hammy is feeling better though!

17

@littlesleeper Thanks man. Yeah I didn’t really mention it, but my back definitely felt pretty fucked for like 3 days after.

3/15/16 - Had that fear in my gut all week again. I know better than to guess why I was feeling that way. It almost always means I’m itching for a PR. I SHOULD know better, however, than to expect PR on fronts. My logic was that if I can triple 500 on back squats, I can automatically front squat 475. I pretty much just grabbed my dick and went for it regardless of turn out.

Front Squats
45x5,5,5
135x3
225x3
275x1
325x1
365x1
420x1 felt easy, probably could have tied my old PR (460).
475x0 might have been my legs that couldn’t carry the demand.
470x0, damn!

Time to start training fronts again. I didn’t really take into account that I had more than double my bodyweight on my chest. I feel like once you get over that ratio on fronts, the load starts to feel ridiculously heavy. Either that or I’m a bitch and today was not my day. Actually, it just wasn’t my day anyway.

Pause Front Squats (no belt)
135x3
225x3
275x3
330x3 tough, can do this for maybe 5-6 fresh
275x3

Step Ups to 13" (reps per leg)
BWx20
45x20
45x20
95x20
90x15
90x12
90x12 finally a quad pump!

Lying Leg Raise
x15
x15
x15

Banded Sit Up
x8
x8
x8
x8

18

Random question, anyone repulsed by sweet potato skin? I force myself to eat around the blemishes because I don’t buy organic (not yet anyway) and don’t trust it. I feel like I’m gonna have ants crawling out of my eye balls or some shit the next morning.

19

If I ever get a sweet potato, I usually eat it too fast to notice if there was any skin on it.

1 Like
20

I usually cut them up and smother them with olive oil and paprika (or whatever other spices I grab first) and toss them in the oven. I have no issues with the skin that way, but I also scrub the shit out of them with a coarse sponge under running hot water, which tears a lot of the skin off.