IRON & STONE: The (Redundant) Adventures of an Amateur Strongman

[mouse]

6/14/2021

SSB Squat
350x8x3

Goodmorning
250x3x8 EMOM

Sled Drag 60'
10x280 EMOM

Leg Extensions w/ Band
3x15

Air Bike
10 min @6-7


6/15/2021

Rotators(well... 'r')
15x3
Martins style... yup... with a 6 lb'r I had around...

Axle DB Press
75x8, 65x8x2

DB Push Press
70x3x8 EMOM
Skipped the snatches because my left shoulder has *gulp* been getting pissy, and these just felt better

DB Flat Bench
75x12, 55x15x2
First set just felt unstable and some popping in the shoulder... out of an abundance of caution I backed way off and just used the spinlocks to see if it made a difference... slow focused reps, slight pause at the bottom...

Meadows Row
60x12x3

DB Curl Myo Reps
25x16, x5, x5, x5, x4, x3



6/17/2021

Goodmorning
275x8x2, 290x8

SSB Box Squat
315x3x8 EMOM

Hip Thrusts
245x15x3

Reverse Sled Drag 60ft
280x10 EMOM


6/18/2021

BW: 224 lb
Not super proud of this as I've been off the rails eating junk lately, but it's not as bad as I was expecting stepping on the scale. If I was miraculously cured this morning I could still probably make weight tomorrow lol

Rotators
3x15

45 Deg Incline Press
80x8x3

Power Jerk
70x3x8 EMOM

Arnold Press
25x15x3

Hammer Curl Myo Rep
35x16, 5, 5, 5, 4, 3

Band Pressdown
15x3 (black band)


Rotator cuff/bicep surgery (maybe) is scheduled for July 21st

[mouse]

6/1/2021

Axle DB Press
55x8, 65x8, 75x8

DB Power Snatch
65x6, 75x6, 80x6, 65x3x4 EMOM

DB Flat Bench
65x15x2

Band Low Row
2x15
Wasn't my actual selection but I forgot I was supposed to superset a row and scrambled to just do something quick

Hammer Curl
35x10x3

ParallelHigh Cable Curl w/ Band
15x2
(I don't know what these are actually called)



6/3/2021

SSB Box Squat
330x6, 360x6, 370x6, 290x3x4 EMOM

Good Morning
240x8, 260x8, 280x8

Hip Thrusts
225x15x2

Reverse Sled Drag 60ft
235x6 EMOM

Thats right... hip thrusts are back for now hahaha...


6/4/2021

45 Deg Incline Press
70x8x3

Power Jerk (2 jerks/1 split)
65x3x8 EMOM

Chest Fly w/Band
3x15
just adding in a little extra chest stuff, was gonna do them with a DB but the whole thing felt awkward with one arm so I just opted for a heavier band standing up
Scott Curl
35x12x3

Band Pressdown
3x30

Plate Curl
20x12x2
just fucking around with grip stuff, Sandwiched the 10s to see how shitty these were lol



6/7/2021

SSB Squat
340x8x3

Tow Strap RDL
315x3x8 EMOM

RFE Split Squat
150x15x2

Sled Sprint 60'
275x8 EMOM



6/8/2021

Axle DB Press
70x8x3

DB Power Snatch
65x3x8 EMOM

DB Flat Bench
75x15x2
+
Meadows Row
55x15x2

Hammer Curl
25x15, 30x15, 35x15


6/10/2021

Goodmorning
275x8x3

SSB Box Squat
295x3x8 EMOM

Hip Thrusts
235x15x3

Reverse Sled Drag 60ft
280x8 EMOM


6/11/2021

45 Deg Incline Press
75x8x3

Power Jerk
65x3x8 EMOM

Band Rear Delts
3x20

DB Curl
40x10x3

Band Pressdown
20x3

Fat Grip Zottman Curl
15x15x3

[mouse]

5/24/2021

Belt Squat
180x10, 195x10, 205x10, 190x10

Incline DB Press
60x12x5

Overhead KB Walking Lunges
25x15x3

Training goes on, being a lefty is... weird.

Ortho called back right before I left work but all I got out of it was that they had to talk to the doc on call that day and that they would call me back either tonight or tomorrow. Fingers crossed I actually get looked at soon



5/25/2021

SA DB Press
60x8x4

Good Morning
250x10x3

DB Hammer Curl
25x18x3

Band Pressdown
30x3

Band Lat Raise
20x2

Training just the left side with a pump is some weird Jekyll and Hyde shit lol

Ortho appt Thurs at 8am


__________

5/27/2021

Tow Strap Deadlift
405x8x3

SSB Box Squat
330x6, 360x6, 280x3x4 EMOM

Leg Curls
20x2

Low Band Row
15x2

Holy these tow strap deads suck ass lol. Trying to figure out the right ROM. If I set them where my hands would normally be its like a block pull, set them near the sleeves and it feels almost like a snatch pull. Bar banging the shit out of my legs and I have to keep tension in my low back on the way down which gets exhausting. @TimK damn man, hats off to you for going 495+ on those lol

Currently weighing if I just do RDLs or something until I can use my hands again...

Was aiming for ~380 on the box squats but hit RPE a little early... prolly because of my low back...

Might try and fuck with Nordics but for now just tossed in some quick curls and some rows

__________

5/28/2021

BW: 219 lbs
For as shitty as my diet has been its amazing this number isn't higher lol

Incline DB Press (45 Deg)
55x8, 65x8, 70x8

DB Power Jerk
70x6, 75x6, 80x6, 65x3x5 EMOM
I should be able to load these heavier very soon, and I might make an honest to God attempt to get good at split jerking them...

DB Tricep Ext
20x15x2
Was feeling these way too much in the shoulder even with very light weight so I just scrapped it and moved on

DB Curl
35x12x3

Band Rear Delts Fly
20x3

__________

5/31/2021

SSB Squat
330x8, 350x8, 360x8

Tow Strap RDL
315x6, 345x6, 365x6, 275x3x4 EMOM

RFE Split Squat
200x12x2

Sled Sprints 60'
165x6 EMOM

What the hell engage baby giraffe on those split squats lol. Regular squats went well enough but the SSB is putting pressure in the injured side that gives me some tingliness (for lack of a better term). Being careful not to flex but keep my back engaged, which is a strange and fine line to walk lol

Plan for now is to stick to Alan's template, but adapted to single arm work and with no heavy deadlifts for now. Gonna use RDLs on D1 and Goodmornings alongside the squat work...

[mouse]

Was gonna be running a block of Alan's strongman template but I guess I'm not for now... bicep tear on my right side. Trying to get an ortho to look at it at the moment, I'll update with specifics later when I know them...

[mouse]

5/17/2021
SSB Squat
365x5, 385x5, 400x5

Strict Press
155x6, 175x6, 185x6

Hatfield Split Squat
240x8x2

Farmers Carry 60ft
205x4 all sub ~10 sec


5/18/2021
Push Press
185x5, 200x5, 210x5

SLDL
455x1, 380x5x2

CGB+BB Row
225x8 / 185x8

CDB Press
90x3x3 (right), 60x3x3 (left)


5/20/2021
Front Squat
290x6, 310x6, 330x6
My adductors are fucking PISSED

Power Jerk
235x1, 205x5x2

Ukrainian Deadlift
5" Sumo Deficit DL
315x8x2

Keg Over Bar 52" - 60 Sec
265x5

[mouse]

CNY STRONGEST 4 RESULTS

K so yeah, full meet report:

CNY's Strongest Man/Woman 4: Part Deux
5/15/2021 - Lafayette, NY
3rd Place Men's Open 220

Weighed in at 210 and change... so literally the lightest BW I've ever competed as lol

Max Log - 240, 260, 280(miss) - tied 3rd
Dang dude if I didn't underestimate my direct competition. Actually I think a few of us did. It became clear during warm ups that we we're all figuring each other out and strategy wasn't gonna work. Three of us opened at 240, two of us missed 280, and top dawg (Utah lol) won the class with his opener at 280, and went on to get 300 and 320 for a PR just because. To say I wasn't bummed a bit would be a lie, but my overhead has suffered with this new BW and I did about as well as I figured, it just wasn't enough today.

Keg Toss - 6 kegs 22.9 seconds - 3rd
None of the kegs were marked and they were all roughly the same weight. Somewhere between 25-30 lbs? Maybe on the lower end honestly. This was by far the surprise event for me, I ripped all 6 over with no real mistakes which would end up helping me later. If I would have been smoother actually grabbing the kegs I probably could have had 2nd place, as we were only seperated by 3/10th's of a second. Very pleased here.

Axle Deadlift for Reps - 525x8 - tied 2nd
Not much to say here other than this was a failure on my part that will bug me. I knew 8-10 reps was gonna win this event. I underestimated the other two guys in our top four who both got 8 reps. 1st place did 10 right before I went. I miscounted and thought I had 9 which was grindy, so I thought I'd settle and save myself for hus/stones. Turns out I stopped at 8. I really need to ask someone to count for me next time. Points wise it wasn't a game changer, but it's a personal rookie mistake I shouldn't have made.

Husafell Carry Max Distance - 275 for ~175ft - 3rd
What can I say except I surprised myself here. In training 275 felt awful and I only managed about 60ft. Something about this Hus felt much better, I got a great pop off the pick and grip was only a slight issue where I had to stop and adjust halfway down. I pushed to max effort here. There was no 'just enough' lol. Every step the last 15 feet felt like my feet were made of lead and I had no idea how big of a step I was taking, just that I needed to keep moving. Kept moving until the clock expired. Good enough for third but a huge mental victory.

Atlas Stone for Reps - ~300x6 - tied 3rd
Probably the first time I think I've done 'well' at stones. I did screw up one rep towards the end which cost me what would have been a tie for 2nd, but I was lucky enough to have enough time to grind one more over that kept me in for a 3rd place tie. Tape slippage was an issue for a lot of us with the warm weather. Happy with my performance here, another max effort don't-even-count-just-go event...

All in all it may not have been my best finish, but I did podium in a VERY stacked class against some very strong guys at a VERY light BW and this was easily my most CONSISTENT contest yet. I may have been middle of the pack all day, but there was no terrible event and that's huge progress for me. Usually I have one event that I just do awful at the negates one where I do really well. In the end that kept me in the podium chase.

Finding out I'm gonna be a 3x dad overshadowed everything, but really helped cement this contest as one that will probably go down as my favorite over all. Very competitive, super fun outside, and a great return to full competition that I've been looking forward to...

[mouse]

Was planning on having some sort of session but didn't. Life got in the way in the form of our old dryer finally shitting the bed to where it wasn't worth fixing it anymore. Went and got a decent deal on a new one. So most of my afternoon got eaten up doing that and yardwork.

It was only gonna be some band work, maybe like a super light farmers EMOM or something. Spent some time with the theragun instead just working stuff out.

[mouse]

5/11/2021

45 Deg Incline Press
185x6x3

Chins
3x8

Band Rear Delts
3x15

Band Pressdowns
3x20

Air Bike HIIT
20/60x5
Oh fuck this lol... ~5 min of light peddling after

[mouse]

Exodus is back up, but with it being contest week I'll log what little I do here daily until after.... then it will likely be weekly dumps...

Anyway, hit some singles on log yesterday... hoping to make my decision for jumps on Saturday. Leaning towards opening at 240, not screwing up 260, and then rolling some serious dice at 280 lol...

5/10/2021

Viper Press
205x1, 225x1, 245x1x5

Axle Deadlift
405x6x2, 405x10

[mouse]

5/8/2021

BW: 214.5

Log Press EMOM
170x3x2, 185x3x2, 195x3x2, 205x2x2, 195x3x2, 185x3x2, 170x3x2

Close Grip Incline Bench
185x8x4

Keg Toss
~30x6x4

Sled Drag 60'
250x1x8 EMOM

Air Bike
10 min @6-7

Very close to (I think) my lowest BW in 4 years... couple of split jerks in that pyramid... not very good ones... but some lol

[mouse]

5/6/2021

RDL
455x5x3

Keg/Stone to 52" Bar (60 sec)
265x6, 220x5, 220x7

Yoke Push 60ft
350x1x6 EMOM

Keg first because I don't have a heavier stone, first set with the stone it was slipping a lot, second set I put some tacky on my fingers and was able to bang out and easy 7 in a minute...

Yoke... just went with what I had on there to weigh it down and hell... was gonna do 10 but after 6 my legs were shot and I still want to puke...

[mouse]

5/4/2021

Viper Press
225x1x2, 245x1x3, 255x1, 205x2x4 EMOM

Close Grip Bench
275x6, 225x3x5 EMOM

Incline Skullcrushers Myo Reps
85x16, 5, 5, 5, 4

[mouse]

5/3/2021
Axle Deadlift
525x6, 435x3x6 EMOM

SSB Squat
330x2x10 EMOM

Yoke Carry 50ft
440x1x10 EMOM

Last run with contest weight on the deads... reps were FAST... sub-30 seconds for those 6 with more in the tank... now I'm gonna try and hang on to that conditioning lol

[mouse]

Last full week of training before CNY's Strongest next weekend, having Exodus down makes it vastly apparent how spoiled I am/was having that data available. Typically I'd be looking at past peaks for some ideas but I guess I'll take this as an 'opportunity' to try some stuff. Some script flipping today/tomorrow, and then probably a bunch of conditioning stuff added in until contest day.

Officially on the Open MW roster now for Rituals of Strength 4 in Rochester June 19th. Max keg press, 'descending' axle deadlift for reps, farmers/tire medley, truck pull, and (*sigh*) last man standing stone over bar... I really want to do good at that truck pull hahaha...

[mouse]

5/1

BW: 215.4 lb

Viper Press
215x1, 235x1x2, 215x3

Husafell Carry
200x120', 275x60'x2

Stone Over 52" Bar
300x2x3

So the reason for the incredibly short volume today is because I drove out to I&S and fucked up. Apparently they start at 9 now, not 10... so I literally rolled out of my truck as they were finishing up log... threw my shit on and hit those vipers absolutely stone cold lol.

Husafell feels like absolute shit hahaha, stone was also totally cold, no warm up sets. First set was a very near missed triple, I was a touch too far back... hit two more solid doubles which considering my smol BW isnt shabby for me...