grouchyjarhead wrote:Strongman competitions were always a blast. Everyone is great, the events are fun, and it's a big motivator to get stronger. What are your events going to be, and how are you approaching them?
I'm excited! It's a little nerve wracking since I'm training alone at home, going to compete with a bunch of guys that train together in a strongman gym. But you have to start somehow. My ultimate goal is to qualify for nationals at 175, then compete at nationals at 150 and place in the top 50%. It'll take a few years but I think I can get there.
For my first show I skipped novice and went straight to open. My goal for this show is to just learn and not zero, which I'm very confident about. Events are:
-Axle Bar Squat: for reps at 350 lbs to parallel
-Keg, Sandbag, Stone Medley: 60ft/175lbs, 30 ft/200lbs, 15ft/167lbs; all loaded at 52" for time
-Circus Dumbell: max weight, last man standing, starting at 88lbs with 10 lb jumps.
-Frame Deadlift: for reps at 450 lbs at 18"
-Stone Load Series: 205lbs, 225lbs, 245lbs, then 185lb stone of steel for reps at 50" in 75 secs
The axle squat and frame deadlift I do as primary strength movements in my routine, with pre-set percentage based reps like 5/3/1, but with wider rep ranges. I own an axle and frame so that's nice. The squat will be with tires into blocks, so I'm just lowering the bar onto safety pins. I'm predicting my squat to be under 10 reps, but my deadlift will be in the 20-30+ range.
The other 3 events I train at the end of my basic strength workouts. CDB I train 1-2 times a week with a plate loaded dumbell and fat gripz. My overhead strength is awful so I was really nervous about this; at first I kept zeroing the minimum weight. Then I added a split jerk and started practicing with just singles (I build my OHP strength with basic OHP movements). The split jerk really changed things for me. I only really do singles at heavy weight though because with a split jerk the weight is moving so fast that with lighter weights and more reps it started messing up my shoulder when the weight came to a sudden stop at the top. I can hit minimum weight every time now, and can hit 93 consistently. I'm sure I'll be able to hit 98 in the show, and am hoping for 108. I really need to work on this though, nationals minimum is 120.
For the medley I own a keg and sandbag. I train it once a week at the end of my basic lifts. What I've been doing lately is practicing my pick and load for a few sets and reps, then running through the medley a few times. Not worried about zeroing this at all.
For stones I've been using a loading pin with plates and just getting some reps in. Usually once a week at the end of my workouts. I do have an 18" slater mold in the mail. I'll only have time to get one stone made before the show, and I can make a 200lb or 240lb. I think I'll make the 200 and just work on knocking out reps. I can load a 200 lb sandbag without too much trouble, so I'm confident I can get all of the stones up.
I still use a lot of TB concepts for my conditioning. I run an 8 day cycle with Lift/Lift/Cardio/Rest x2. I'll start specializing more and more ad contest time gets closer.
My next show is in February.