Thurs.

Yesterday was good gym session. I ended up pulling 405 for seven reps. That's not exactly earth shattering, but the weight felt lighter than usual. That tells me that my grip is coming along and the heavy sled pulling is definatley helping my deadlift. I'm hoping I'll be able to pull 500 off the ground in the next couple of months. I don't expect it to be pretty, but I think I can get it done.
I'm thinking I'm going to pass on the strongman comp in Ft Worth this year. I just don't feel I'll be ready for it at the level I want to compete at. That's a horrible excuse, but I'm also piss broke if anyone needs a better one. I've done the thing where I've showed up 'ready or not' to compete just to get some experience on the platform. In fact, I've been doing that for the last several years. Now, I want to compete. I want to compete under 200 lbs and I want to win. I basically pissed off the entire last year anti-training. I feel like I've overcome many of the things that were dragging me down so now I've just got to stay focused. Besides, lifting heavy stuff is essentailly free. Which is about all the entertainment I can afford until I've got these bloody student loans knocked out.

I did get an email this morning that there may be a strongman comp in Albq in mid-May during the Scottish festival....that could be interesting. I wonder if I could squeeze in a strongman and highland games in one weekend?

Props

Some guys make thier wives go climbing to get in shape....

Tough Enough!

How can you not be intimidated by that face?

Saturday

My first strongman workout of the year.



Farmers walk:

220 lbs x 200 ft. x 1

320 lbs x 100 ft. x 2

360 lbs x 100 ft. x 2

400 lbs x 50 ft. x 4 (My grip needs some serious work)



Tire flip

600 lb tire for 4 sets of 5 flips

Stone Carry:
Carried my big friggen rock around the barn once

That's it.

Things that make you go "wow, that's strange".

emesis

so here's a breakdown of my workout yesterday. Should've been primarily a squat day, but I didn't have a spotter and decided to just blow off some steam. As it turns out, I came nearer to blowing chunks.

squats: 275lbs X 12
60 sec rest
pullups: bodyweight X 12
60 sec rest
straight leg deads w/DBs: 75lbs(2) X 12
60 sec rest
dips: BW + 45lbs X 12
60 sec rest
squats: 275lbs X 12
60 sec rest
pullups: bodyweight X 12
60 sec rest
straight leg deads w/DBs: 75lbs(2) X 12
60 sec rest
dips: BW + 45lbs X 12
60 sec rest
squats: 275lbs X 12
60 sec rest
pullups: bodyweight X 12
60 sec rest
straight leg deads w/DBs: 75lbs(2) X 12
60 sec rest
dips: BW + 45lbs X 12
laid down and focused on staying alive.
Fun workout, but took a ton of energy. I ate an 8oz chicken breast and a salad and was asleep by 9. At 10:30 I was hungry so I got up and had a protien shake. woke up starving this morning.

gynecophobia

C.-
Good luck at the comp today!
B.-
Good luck at he wedding rehersal today! I wish I could be there and be sober at the same time, but I really don't think that's an option for me. Oh sure! I'm facing my giants head on and making some excellent progress. In fact, I've lost eight pounds in three weeks and my need for liquid carb loading is shrinking daily. But, com on, every man has his breaking point. You have to be there and be sober. Technically, all I have to do is show up. Right?

PS - scored me a 600lb forklift tire today! Strange what I get really excited about these days.

Mmm...Beefy!

So I stacked my steely log up to 195lbs and manged to press out five reps at the end of a pretty brutal workout. I'm really trying to get the technique down here. At last year's comp in Ft Worth I had only worked out with a log once before and hadn't a clue what 220lbs was going to feel like. I got two reps with it and thought I was going to die and that was the first event of the day. Last year I was just trying to muscle the damn thing up over my head. I've found that it's all done with leg drive and leverage. This year I've been focusing on getting my squats "faster" to improve my drive speed all the way through the lift. This turned out to be very useful pressing overhead last night. I'm gunning for six reps under the log this year at the comp. That should be good enough to keep me in the running for a top three finish.
I talked to our fleet manager yesterday about finding a six hundred pound tire to train with. He gave me a strange look, but fortunately the guy has a since of humor. He ended up calling his tire vendors to find out which ones they used would be close to the right weight. Then he starts calling yards to track down an old one. Last I heard he thinks we have one here in the snyder yard. Hopefully I'll have some heavy rubber to train with by this weekend.
I think if I can get some time with a tire, the log, and my farmers walk, I may be able to at least compete this year.

PS - had five beers last night after my workout. Didn't sleep for crap and was pissing all night. And it screwed up my eating schedule. How did I ever do that on a daily basis?

Headstrong

Well, I did make it through New Years Eve sober. I had some ice cream in bead at around 11:00, but all things considered I think that is acceptable. I had planned to get up and do a strong man session yesterday morning, but the deadlift workout the night before did me in. So I rode my bike for an hour watching another video. This one followed Hell Valley right out side of LasVegas, NV. Very cool ride. I know what I'm doing if I ever get drug to Vegas again.
I did break down and crack open the bottle of merlot Hollie gave me for Christmas. I had one glass and regretted that. I felt like I was drinking poison. It's amazing what the mind can do to protect you if you really allow it.
Meg joined me for about half the bike ride until the saddle sores got the best of her. To her credit, she got off the bike and went for a walk to finish up the hour workout. This morning she actually drug out of bed and went for a walk. I pulled my sled to the highway and back again.

I go to the doctor this afternoon to evaluate my blood pressure situation again. Yesterday morning it checked out at 153/180. Still not great, but better than what it has been. We shall see...