Year end Blowout!

Thurs Dec 29/11

Military-135X8, 190X5, 215X3, 240X1 (Presc reps only)
Band pull aparts- 3 sets of 25

Push Press-255X2, 255X2, 255X2, 255X2, 225X6
(All overhead pressing was feeling pretty tough, triceps are still pretty blasted from heavy ab wheel on tues)

Pendlay rows-205X10, 225X10, 225X10, 225X10, 225X10 (Elbow/biceps tendonitis flaring up a bit, added straps to get the work in)

DB Bench- 90X10, 100X10, 100X10, 100X10, 100X10 (all sets paused each rep at the bottom)
Face pulls- 5 sets of 20

Rower-500mX1:27.7 rest 3mins, 250m X41.6

Session wasn't awesome, but I got all the work in.


One of my Xmass presents this year was the book "I am Ozzy".  Autobiography of Ozzy Osbourne.  Its absolutely hilarious.  I usually end up reading a few pages and then stopping to wipe the tears because I'm laughing my ass off.  A very entertaining read. 

Xmass Holiday Recap

No training to speak of from last weekend (dec 17th & 18th),I  attended a training seminar, did a lot tech work with a broomstick and did some clean and jerks at lunch time, worked up to 300X1 (probly the best and easiest clean I've ever performed on a barbell, full squat clean. The jerk was cake)

Tues Dec 20/2011
Deload

Box jumps- 3X3 @39"

Squat- (I had a lot of trouble getting under the bar, shoulder were pretty hot from snatch tech practice on the weekend)
135X5, 225X5, 315X5, 405X5

Ghr-5 sets of 12
Pulldown abs- 5 sets of 10 @ 120

Extra mob work for shoulders and neck


Thurs Dec 22/2011

Feelgood shoulders warm-up

Military-135X8, 175X3, 200X3, 225X3
Chins- 3 sets of 10

Last set of military led into first set of push press (cleaned from floor)
245X2, 255X1, 275X1, 300Xfail.

Pedlay rows-205X10 X5sets

DB bench- 75X10, 90X10, 90X10, 100X10, 120X9 (used a deadstop pause in the bottom of each rep and was focused on smooth slow reps, mostly due to having hot shoulders and not wantng to further irritate them)
Face pulls X20 after each set of press

250m row-39.9, 41.0, 41.1, rest 3 mins between sets.

Sat Dec 24th 2011

Squats-135X8, 225X5, 315X3, 405X1, added belt 495X1, 535X1, 575X1, 600X1 This went up better than I expected. I was still pretty grizzled in the hips and low back from our staff xmass football party the night before, and actually worried the whole sessions would have to be scrapped as I limped around the house all mornining but it came together in the squat rack.

Bench press with slingshot- 225X3, 315X3, 365X1, 405X1, 415X1, 425X1 All reps were nice and easy, just having some fun trying out the slingshot I got for my birthday.

Deadlift- 225X5, 315X3, 405X2, 495X1, 585X1 That was all that was going to go today, all reps were putting a lot of pressure right at the SI and hips loaded 675 on the bar and it was clear that I was not going to pull anything worthwhile today. Just taking the slack out of the bar felt like crap.


Monday Dec 26th 2011

Yoke/farmers medley- worked up to 765 yoke X50' and 300 farmers X50', speed was good.

Tues Dec 27th 2011

DL-225X8, 315X5, 405X3, 520X4, 520X4, 520X4, 520X4, 590X2, 660X2, 660X2, 520X8 (all sets no belt, second set at 660 was work)

Front squat-225X10, 275X10, 275X10, 315X8

AB wheel- 4 sets of 10 w/ 70lbs of bumpers on back (this was hard as fuck on the shoulders and triceps but abs are also mangled)

Additional stretching for hams and heel chords.

That's a huge recap on paper (or online text), but it doesn't feel like I did much across the span of the week leading into xmass. 

Now that winter is finally here, we had our first brush with the ditch this morning. Sarah was backing out of the driveway and the deep snow near the end of the drive pulled her into the ditch a wee bit.  No big deal, we couldnt get it loose with my 2 wheel drive truck so we called the local tow company.  Much to my suprise, they told us that since out road wasn't plowed yet they couldn't make it in to help us.  (even though cars were driving past us the whole time we were out there)  They truly sucked a hard dick.  My buddy stopped by with his 4x4 and pulled us out in about 45 seconds.  Too bad for the tow company.

This song is dedicated to the local tow company that sucked the high hard one today.  Good job mates!

Putting in the work

Tues Dec 13/11

Box Jumps 30" box + 24lbs 3x3

Squat-225X8, 315X5, 420X4, 420X4, 420X4, 420X4, 480X2, 535X2, 540X2 (belt on for 540 set), 420X10
Hips and low back felt awesome, hitting depth felt like breathing, and no matter what happened I was fast out of the hole.

GHR-4 sets of 12
Weighted sit-ups- +25lbs behind neck 4X10

Good sesh

Explicit Content

Sat Dec 3rd
Events

Farmers/sled drag warm-up- a few sets of 50' farmers-50 sled drags, all sets were very light.

DE Log- worked up to 3X3 @ 255

Farmers-200X50', 250X50', 300X50', 350X50'

Stones-3X5 @ 300 to 56" (one motion kind of came about on its own in attempt to be very fast)
Took a hard shot on the chin, while attempting to touch and go my stone set.  Wish I had it on video.  Chin was mangled, had a nice purple golf ball on it for a couple days.

Tire- 3 sets of 5 flips



Sunday Dec 4th 2011

Bench press- 135X10, 185X5, 225X5, 275X5, 315X3, 335X1, 350X1, 4 sets of 2 @ 320lbs
Face pulls- set of 20 after each set of bench

DB Row- 5 sets of 15/arm @ 120, short rest periods, focus on feeling lats instead of just heaving reps

Turkish Get-ups

1 Arm DB Strict press- 60X8/arm, 75X8/arm, 85X8/arm, 100X6/arm

Arms as per shelby starnes


Tues Dec 6/2011

Box Jumps- 2 sets of 3

Deadlift-135X8, 225X8, 315X3, 405X3, 510X4 X4 sets, 580X2 (these felt awesome), 650X2, X2  Both top sets were work but felt pretty decent.






 

Front Squats- 225X5, 315X5, 365X4, 405X3

DB side bends-150X13/side X 2 sets

Good heavy session

Snifflin', Coughin', and Still Training to be a Motherfucker

Tues Nov 29/11

Kneeling jumps- 3X3

Squat-135X10, 225X8, 315X4, 415X4, X4, X4, X4, 470X2, 525X2, 525X1, 405X1

I utilized "the nothing" template for acc this day. Still recovering from a nasty cough/lung butter type sickness, and it was at its peak for this session, just got my squats in and went home. All reps and all sets were tough. (forgot my shoes and belt at home so squatted in tennis shoes and no belt)



Thurs Dec 1/2011

Military (sched deload)- 135X5 X3 sets

DB Bench-120X8, 120X10, 120X10, 120X6, 120X8

Pendlay rows-135X10, 185X10, 185X10, 185X10, 185X10 These were pretty tough, doing it strict with a stop at the bottom made the exercise difficult, but my low back didn't blow up like it does with reg BB rows.

Ab wheel- +35lbs X15, +60lbs X10

250m row-40.3

Snifflin', Coughin', and Still Training to be a Motherfucker

I didn't die, I was in Europe

Manning the gate at Karlstjein Castle

Catch-up post: Was in Czech Republic for 2 weeks at the IPF worlds. Sarah lifted, she bombed out in the squat on depth and pretty much had the worst meet of her career. Only got her openers on bench and DL.  Otherwise, being at the meet all week was a great experience.  I learned a lot as a coach (I got to help out with most of the Canadian lifters) and met a lot of good peeps.
Trip was a good vacay, spent the first week at the meet in Plzen and the second week on vacay in Prague.


Nov 8/2011
Training room at IPF worlds (Plzen)

Deadlift-70kgX10, 105kgX5, 125kgX3, 180kgX3, 230kgX1, 250kgX1, 270kg(595)X1, 290kg(639)X1, 320(705)X1 (belt on for this lift only)

Front Squat-120kgX8, 130X8, 130X8, 140X8 (knees were screaming during these, likely due to still being tight and immobile from the long flight)

This was a good short sesh, it was in the "training room" and not the main warm-up room at the meet. It was a very small room with 2 ER racks and a full set of eleiko plates for each rack. Somthing that was pretty cool about it though, was that eleiko had 2 prototype bars in the rack for everyone to use and they were asking for feedback. One was a chromed bar (apparently they are considering going back to chrome so the bars don't rust) and the other appeared to just be a normal eleiko competition bar, I was unaware of what was different about it, but I will say this, the chrome bar was sharp, but not as sharp as the non-chrome one, otherwise they both felt awesome.


Thurs Nov 10/11
Training room in Plzen

Military-60kgX8, 65X3, 72.5kgX5, 80kgX5, 95kg(209)X7 (these felt pretty tough)

Bench press-70kgX8, 90kgX5, 120X5, 135X5 X5 sets (these were really fast, there was myself and 2 other lifters benching and the pace was quick)

Finished off in the "fitness room" in the hotel

Neutral grip chins-4 sets of 10
Rear delt raise-3 sets of 15

arms as per shelby starnes


Sat Nov 12th 2011
Training room Plzen

Squats-worked up to 5 sets of 5 @ 205kg (no belt)
Just got some work in, and then they started tearing down the training room as I was still training so I had to cut it short.

Finished in fitness room 4 sets of 10 hanging leg raise


Tues Nov 15th 2011
World Class Gym Prague (drop-in rate 500Kr = $30 wow!)

Box Jumps 3X3 to aprox 36"

Squat- 75kg X5, 105X5, 125X5, 182.5X4, X4, X4, X4, 207.5 X2, 207.5 X2, 227.5(502lbs) X2, 227.5(502lbs) X2, 227.5 X2, 185kg (407) X17 rep PR
No belt for all sets (cause I didn't take one with me)
This squat session felt great, all reps went up easy and hips and knees were feeling great

Back Ext-3 sets of 15 +15kg
Lying leg curl-3 sets of 15 (slow negative)
Leg ext-3 sets of 12 (slow tempo)

I expected this session to leave me sore for days, but it did not, likely due to the fact that we were walking about 5hrs per day on average. All the walking helped get the recovery underway.


Thurs Nov 17th/2011
World Class Expensive Gym Prague (Goddamn $30 drop-in)

Military-65kgX8, 80kg(175)X3, 87.5kg(193) X3, 100kg (220lbs) X8 this was a much better military session than the previous week, likley due to being more mobile and less stressed about the worlds meet

Incline Bench-82.5kgX5, 95kgX5, 110kgX5, X5, X5
CSR-4 sets of 12

Iso High row-2 sets of 12
Iso Chest press-2 sets of 12

Arms as per shelby starnes


Sun Nov 20/2011
UF gyms

Incline-135X10, 210X5, 240X3, 270X1, 300X1, 300X1, 300X1
This felt hard, the first couple days after travelling seems to fuck me up a bit.
FacepullsX20 after every set

Bent over Rows-225X10 X5 sets (these are starting to feel pretty good, getting good control on every rep and really feeling them in the lats)

DB Side raise-25X15 rest 40 sec 25X15 rest 40 sec 25X12 rest 45 sec 25X9

Arms as per shelby starnes


Tues Nov 22nd 2011

Box Jumps-4 set of 3 @39" (mixed in with warm-up sets of DL)

DL-225X8, 315X5, 405X3, 500X4, X4, X4, X4, 570X2, 570X2, 500X10

Front squat-225X5, 275X10, 315X10, 315X10

GHR- 2 sets of 15

Weighted sit-ups- 2 sets of 12 @ 25lbs behind head


Thurs Nov 24/2011

Military-135X8, 155X3, 185X5, 219X3, 235X5, 185X10
Chins- 4 sets of 8

DB Bench- 5 sets of 10 @ 100lbs (these felt good, shoulders felt good)

T-bar rows-50X8, 75X8, 100X8, 125X8, 150X8, X8 (1 sec squeeze at the top of each rep)


Sat Nov 26th 2011
Events (first sessionn at the new training spot "locker 8")

Log-warmed up to 255X3, 275X1, 295X1, 315X2, 315X2, 315X2

Yoke- (this yoke session was a bit of fuckshow and took way too long)
405X50', 585X50', 765X50', 865X50', 865X50' (last run started to feel pretty good)

Stones-a couple warm-ups, 320X3 to 56" X 4 sets, then a bunch of various loads to put stones away on top platforms.

Thick DB clean and press- a bunch of sets and reps at 125lbs

Flimsy Bar Squats

I decided to try out the new Texas Powerbar that I got Sarah for her birthday.  It's got nice sharp knurling but it's proven to be less than ideal for heavy squats.  I could be a bit spoiled by the York black oxide training bar that we normally squat with, its super stiff.

Tues Nov 1/2011

Box Jumps- 2 sets of 3 @ 39"

Squat-135X10, 225X8, 315X3, 405X1, 495X1,belt on now, 545X1, 570X1 PR, 405X16 (I thought I had 17 so I stopped but watching the video proved otherwise) 

All squats felt decent, I used a texas power bar and it will be the last time I squat with that bar. Super flimsy, caused alot of shaking and swinging on the decent, even after I tried to be very conservative with my movements.








GHR-3 sets of 12
Ab wheel-2 set of 15, 1 set +35lbs on back

Getting Strong Again

Great to be training regularly, this training cycle is picking up steam and I'm feeling pretty good. We leave for Prague in 5 days, and I'm hoping to get some training in while I'm there, I want to keep the ball rolling.

What's in Prague? Super Sarah is lifting at the IPF open worlds! You can check her and her training out HERE

Thursday oct 27th 2001

Military-135X8, 155X2, 180X5, 205X3, 230X5, 185X12
Chins (fat grips)- 5 sets of 8

3 board press- 225X8, 275X1, 315X1, 335X1, 355X1, 225X12

DB Rows-5 sets of 12 @ 150lbs (last 2 sets I added straps for better feel in the lats)

DB side raise-1 giant set: 22lb KB X25 drop 20lbs DB X20 drop 15lbs DB X15



Sat Oct 29th 2011
Events

DE Log- worked up to 3 sets of 3 @ 255, 285X1, 305X1, 305X1 (not as crisp as I'd like it to be)

Farmers- worked up to 300X 150' X 2 runs (turns at 75' , No belt)

Stones-warmed up to 410 to 60", then: 265, 285, 300, 320, 350 to 60", 56", 54", 51", 51" X2 runs, both around 30 sec
I forgot to tag this vid for my very generous sponsor Rescindx athletic wear


Tire- 2 sets of 75 sec, both sets 10 flips

Good sesh


Sunday Oct 30th 2011

Incline Bench-135X10, 185X2, 200X3, 225X3, 255X3, 275X1, 300X1 PR, 300X1, 185X12(slow tempo)
Face pulls-4 sets of 20 plus doorway stretch.

Barbell rows-135X15, 225X12, 225X12, 225X12, 225X12 drop 135X10

1 Arm DB press (strict)- 60X8/arm, 80X8/arm, 80X8/arm (left arm is much stronger and more stable than the right)

2 way shoulders-rear/side raise-3 sets of 15/dir
DB ext-40X12, 40X10, 40X10 (slow tempo)

2 From last week

Thurs oct 13/11

Military-135X10, 160X5, 180X5, 205X8
Chins-4 X10

3 Board press-275X5, 315X5, 335X4

DB Rows-120X10/arm X 5 sets

DB Bench-85X15 X 3 sets
DB Side raise-25X15 X 3 sets


Sunday Oct 16/11

Incline Bench-135X5, 185X3, 210X5, 235X3, 265X7, 185X15
Face Pulls- 2 sets of 20, internal rotation shoulder stretch

Barbell Rows-225X10 X 5 sets (1 min rests)

Log strict press-190X5, 190X5, 190X7

DB Curls-3 sets of 10
DB ext- 3 sets of 15

Have a listen

Lifting Regularly and a WIN

This is a copy and paste directly from my training log. The first comment that was posted within a few hours read "wow, what a write up"

Its pretty straight forward, a quick summary of the Bavarian Strongman Contest that I won on thanksgiving weekend. The contest was in Kitchener Ontario, and was a fun day. Its pretty sweet that we had 25 deg weather in october.
Oh yeah and there's a few gym sessions in there too!



Tues Oct 4th


SSB Squat-135X10, 225X8, 315X5, 365X4, 365X4, 365X4, 365X4, 415X2, 455X2(belt), 365X8


GHR-4 sets of 10
Toes to bar-4X10


Prowler-3 trips








Thurs Oct 6th


Extended mob warm-up


Box jumps-3 sets of 3 to 39"


Log press-5 sets of 3 @190


Prowler Sprints-5 sprints


additional mob work.




Saturday Oct 8th
Octoberfest Comp


Truck Pull
Truck was very easy, everyone ended up tossing the rope and sprinting. Was .2 of second of the 1st place time. I call these events "roulette" events, as it can be anyones game (But, Lance looked fast as hell on this event and I was sure he was going to be under the 30sec mark, he drilled this event). 3rd place


Log press
My log needs some work.
tied for ?? with 3 reps
Medley
Speedy medley with moderate weights, this was a good test of dicipline on the farmers, they had super long handles and were tricky. 1st place


Yoke
My fave event. 800 for 80' 18.3 seconds 1st place


Stones-185-360 to podiums, 2?:?? seconds, I wish I had a vid of this, I think I one motioned the first 4. 1st place


A really fun day, good weather, good crew of guys to hang out with and compete. As usual, John ran a great production.




Monday Oct 10th


Incline bench-135X10, 195X3, 220X3, 250X3, 275X1, 295X1, X1, X1
Chins-4 sets of 10


Barbell rows-135X10, 215X12, 215X12, 215X12, 225X12


Log strict press-190X10, 190X10, 190X8


push-ups 2 sets of 20
Rear delt raise-2 sets of 20


Tues Oct 11/2011

Deadlift-135X10, 225X5, 315X5, 405X5, 485X4, X4, X4, X4, 550X2, 615X2, 485X10
I am incredibly happy to be pulling at full capacity again, all sets were without a belt and my neck felt fine.  I'm very pleased with the rate at which I was able to rehab my neck.  1 month of attention and treatments.  Ice, rest, massage, acupuncture, ice, ice, stretching and of course ice.


I attempted front squats but some "goddamn knee pain" was making them difficult.  I tried the leg press sled, to the same result.


Lying leg curl- 3 sets of 15
Pull down abs- 3 sets of 12 @120


Backwards walking sled drags- trips of approx 50yds @ 4 plates, (massive quad demand)

2 at Home, 1 on the Road

Thurs Sept 22/11

Military-135X8, 160X5, 190X3, 215X4, 155X15
Chins-X10, X10, X10, X10

BB rows-135X15, 185X15, 185X15, 185X15

DB incline bench-80X12, 100X12, 100X12

Dips-2 sets of 20

prowler-4 trips



Sunday Sept 25th/2011

SSB Squat-135X10, 225X8, 315X5, 390X4, X4, X4, X4, 455X2, X2, 390X10

Incline bench-135X8, 185X5, 220X3, 240X6, 135X20

DB Rows-3 sets of 15/arm @120lbs

DB Military-60X10, 70X10, 70X10

DB Side raise- 20X15, 20X35reps


Tuesday Sept 27th 2011

Deadlift-225X8, 315X5, 405X3, 475X4, X4, X4, X4, 545X2, X2, 475X10

Front squat-225X10, 275X10, 275X10, 295X10

DB side bends-3 sets of 20/side @130lbs

Back in Action

I'm feeling like a fat lazy bastard lately, so I'm quite happy to be able to lift some weights again and I feel like things are moving well with the injury.

Thurs Sept 15th 2011
(Light loading, neck injury still prevalent)

Military-4 sets of 5 @ 135lbs, 1 set of 18 @ 135 These took some time before I could find the correct position, but caused not pain or severe discomfort while doing them. (I did however hate life the next morning)
Attempted Chins, but the hang position felt nasty

Incline DB press-60X12, 80X12, 100X12, 100X12 (Incline was fine, flat causes major irritation in my neck)
DB Row-40X15/arm, 60X15/arm, 80X15/arm, 100X15/arm (Feeling these out with a slow progression up in load, felt fine, putting the DB back on the rack was uncomfortable, but while in correct position for rowing, everything felt fine)

Dips-2 sets of 20

Overall, I still find this very frustrating to not be able to go 100%, but I'm very happy that I was able to load in a few different positions and not have any problems. I did wake up with considerable pain in my neck and shoulder and a bad headache. I received treatment on Friday as well and I understand that the treatment will contribute to the healing, it was very irritating and caused me a lot of pain.


Sunday Sept 18/2011

Incline bench-135X10, 190X3, 220X3, 245X6, 255X1, 255X1, 255X1, 135X20
Face pulls-4 sets of 20 @60

Bent over rows-5 sets of 15@ 135

DB Military- 60X12, 60X12, 60X12
Lat pulldowns- 160X15, 160X15, 160X15 (Used a limited range as to avoid irritation)

Db side raise-3 sets of 12
DB Curls- 4 sets of 10

Much less irritation, felt pretty good throughout and afterwards.


A little first/last from todays drive in.

FIRST





LAST

Rest and Recover and Frustration

Sitting out from the Dub'ville show was a tough pill to swallow. But I will be bouncing back from this injury.

I received messages and emails from fellow competitors in a tone like I was done and my career was over. Not the case at all.

This injury is more of a piss-off than anything. But definitely not a long term setback.

I've been getting treatments (Acupuncture, ultrasound, and A.R.T) on the neck/shoulder and things are coming along well.
On my own, I've been doing contrast heat/ice applications, some light stretching and mobility activities and was cleared today, to start some light loading in any movements that are uncomfortable.

Last week was an eye opener to me, as to how much of a outlet for stress, my training sessions have become. I just want to lift some goddamn weights!

Hopefully progress continues at the current rate and hopefully I'll be back in action in time for Octoberfest.
I'm made a deal with myself, that if I can test myself out on some event training at 100% intensity before the octoberfest show, then I'll do it, but otherwise, I'm taking this recovery seriously so that preparations for 2012 are not put on hold.

Gatineau 2011 North American Championship

North American's Recap (Gatineau)

Leading into this comp, I had a busy week at the gym, a cluster fuck week, especially on friday. I didn't even think about the comp until I was on my way to the hotel after picking up a couple of americans at the airport.

I just packed all my gear as once again, not much was known about the events. I did recieve a text from Bandana Mike on about wed or thurs with speculated events, but we heard many different versions of the story so it was not worth worrying about. Just show up with all my gear and be ready to lift. I really didn't think about anything until I was putting on my rhebands in the tent on saturday.


Day #1

Arm over arm truck pull
I got a decent draw, I think I was 10th to go out of 12 guys. Nobody had finished when my turn came up, not sure what the leading distance was, but it was set by Savoie. It was heavy start, but steady all the way, I got a good pace going and kept it on. 70' and change. I was in 2nd with that pull and stayed there.
Just missed getting myself a yellow leader jersey.

895lbs Frame Carry (straps)
I got to go in the last heat against Savoie. I like pairing up with guys that are really solid as it pushes me more. When our turn came up, only Caron had finished and Scott the ginger gorilla had come about 6' from the line. Savoie took off like a rocket, as I ground through the pick, i kept a steady pace, focused on precise steps and a tight hips and gut. As I approached the half way mark, my grip was fine, steps were steady, but the frame was folding me forward and starting to cut off breathing (much like car DL hold) just kept the steps going till I couldnt breath anymore. A repick was not happening. Not sure on my distance, but I knew I had made it into 4th spot as I had pushed past the scrapes on the ground where Karl and Mike had finished.

Louis Cyr DB Press 185lbs
Not much to say here other than my pressing has continued to flounder this season, I manged 1 rep, the DB was not very big or awkward, I just didn't have the triceps to finish. I believe I finished 10th on this event.
Time to get into capt upper body mode and get my press up.

Wheelbarrow
I've felt this was a good event for me, but had some grip overuse issues arise in the end of july and early august, that gave me less than desirable finishes. I've been getting treatments on my finger for about 3 weeks now and I was curious to see how things would shape up.
Starting weight was 1550lbs nice and easy, good way to get things in order, hand felt awesome.
Second run 1850lbs, hands felt awesome again, but about 2' from the finish line I felt a nasty pop in my right trap/shoulder, the right side dropped a bit but not enough that I had to put down the barrow, finished the run and was feeling some pain and tightness immediately.
quite a few guys went out on 1850lbs so it was worth big points to have gotten it done. My PR on this event is 2000lbs completed in Toronton back in June. Next weight was 2150lbs, despite not feeling to awesome, I picked it and made a couple steps but it was tough, I picked it twice and was able to dump it 3'2". Karl Gillingham got me by 5" with a distance 3'7" and Savoie and Jessen both completed 2150 and went on to higher weights. I didn't watch, I took my 4th and went for some treatment on my now extremely sore neck/trap. The on-site chiro treated it a bit and got some ice on. He said he would treat me again at the hotel and again in the morning.
Overall a great start to the 3 day show, but neck was a bastard. The rest of my body felt like I hadnt done anything, felt good.

Day 2

Warm-ups were depressing, I was super tight in the neck, even after treatment and hot linament. I didn't feel like moving at all let alone warming up. But whatever, this was a big show, and close to home, many family and friends had come out to watch. Time to suck it up.

Herc Hold
Also a good event for me, and my confidence was high after feeling out my grip on the wheelbarrow. I was up and the leading time was 26sec, I held on for 30 and change, the postiton of the herc hold had no ill affect on my neck and was not painful. I figured I'd be safe for at least second or third with Karl, Savoie and the loafing old creep (Jessen) left to go. As expected, Jessen hung on for 40 seconds, Karl was damn close at 29 seconds, and Savoie went 31sec. Another top 3 placing!

Log for reps 280, clean each rep
Head to head with Karl, my goal was 6 reps. On the first rep, I was a bit loose and the press hurt like fuck, so I had to remind myself to be "tight" after the clean. The 5th rep took the full of my ass, and a split jerk to get. I stopped to rest and played a poor head game with myself, when I finally decided it was imperative to get a 6th, the ref called out only 5 seconds left. Poor mental game here, I am happy that I chose to not split and just push jerk each rep, much faster and still very effective, just used the split when things got tough. 5 reps tied for god knows what. There were a couple of 6's and savoie had 7 or 8 and Caron punched out 10. His first 7 were all one motion. Sick pressing power.


Stones (first 4 to 56", last stone to 60")
I knew every pick was gonna rip into my neck, time to go in the zone, become another animal all together and get the fucking job done. I felt I had a decent run, tied my PR on this set with 4 stones in 28 seconds and got the 5th up pretty high. When I lapped the 5th it felt awesome, I felt that it was going to be the day I loaded all 5, my hands slipped a bit on the way up and I didnt get the stone up into my neck, with 60", I need the stone sitting on my adam's apple and it didnt get up high enough. Satisfied but still hungry for all 5. Unfourtunately, Karl did 4 in 26 sec, Jessen did 4 in 27 seconds and threw the 5th one right over the top of the last podium, Savoie did 4 in 20sec and Caron did all 5. So my stone PR matching load, was good for 5th place.

I finished day in 4th, but stranded alone, 6 or 7 points behind Karl in 3rd and 8 or 9 points ahead of Bandana Mike in 5th. In the past, this has been a bad place to be for me mentally, as I lose focus and find that extreme efforts become difficult, due to not being in a postition to move up and not really in danger of falling back. Mike woke me the hell up on monday with the first event. It snapped me back into action pretty hard.

I spent Sunday night icing and stretching and recieved more treatments from the chiro, the neck was getting worse. I didn't know it at the time, but I had pretty decent injury or at least the start of one and I kept plowing ahead, likely making it worse.

Day 3

Car DL for reps
The leading number was 7, put up by Mike, when my turn came up. I know my DL is similar to Mike's, I was prepping my brain for the lead with 8, but my neck had other plans. Every rep of the pathetic 4 that I got was nasty. I had to stop after each, nearly puking from the nasty feeling in my neck. There was no hope of lifting it with my usual car DL position. I had to sit way back and try to squat it up. 4 reps, Mike got 3rd with his 7 and now my lead over him was cut to only 4 points.

Yoke (800 for 60') /Tire (60') medley
Mike had closed the gap and it woke me up and made me stop feeling sorry for myself with my pissy sore shoulder. Yoke was a joke! 800lbs sprint, I left my belt loose so I could pop it off easily leading into the tire. I was head to head with Karl, and managed to stay ahead of him by 5" on the tire flip. I seriously need to get my tire flip up. The first 4-5 flips are fine, but then I gas and fall apart. I think I was 1 flip short of the finish, not sure what place I ended in but it was enough to keep me in 4th overall and squeeze out 1 point closer to Karl in 3rd.
After the adrenaline calmed down, I was ready for bed and pain killers. My neck was nasty, and my legs were wobbly.

This is by far the loudest and the biggest crowd I've ever performed in front of. The venue is super tight, and the fans are right in your face through every event. Very fun, I was very happy to be able to compete close to home for once and have people come watch.
I'm happy to finish 4th, but not satisfied. Happy to move up and be the third place canadian at this show!
Great weekend, I'm gonna miss seeing all those gorilla's every weekend. Time to get my shit together and get the holes filled for 2012.

I went to see the doctor (Paul Sly at Arnprior Family Chiropractic) on wed and was diagnosed with some tearing in the Scalene/SCM (Sternocleidomastoid) at the clavicle attachement. I was strongly advised not to compete this weekend, although, it was not likely as I have a hard time dressing myself in the morning, and a 10lb plate in the right hand feels like it's going to rip my shoulder off my body. Not only does it suck to be out, but I can't even really smash weights. Coughing is nasty and any type of internal rotation of the arm/shoulder feels like I'm getting stabbed in the neck.

Actually just got a text from my doc, he says to keep working mobility, but to keep everything light and pain free so healing can take place.

Last Couple Sesssions

Sat Aug 27th 2011
Events

Log-worked up to 265X3, 275X3, 280X3, X3, 235X3 (elbows were getting pretty hot on the clean, but pressing felt good) No splits, No belt

Farmers-3 sets of 150' @ 240 per hand, turn at 75'

Stones- a few warm-ups, then: 265,285,300, 320, 350 to 60, 56, 54, 51, 51 X 3 sets, good speed on the second and third runs. 30ish seconds

Tire flip- Aprox 12 flips, alternating flips with Dane.



Tues Aug 30/2011
Sorta, kinda deloadish leading into NA in Gat

Deadlift-225X5, 315X5, 405X5, 495X2, 495X2, 585X2, 585X2 (All sets felt crisp, no belt, focus on good start position and tension)

Front Squat-225X8 X3 sets

GHR-X12, X12, X15
GHR sit-ups-X12, X12, X12

Prowler- 4 trips

CSM Vid and Last 2 Sessions

Tues Aug 23/2011
MAF

Military Press-135X5, 155X5, 180X5, 200X7, 155X15

Squat-225X5, X5, 315X5, 405X4, X4, X4, X4, 455X2, 500X2 (belt on for this set only). 405X11

GHR-2 sets of 12


Thurs Aug 25/11
MAF

Box jumps-3X3 @39"

Bench press-135X10, 225X5, 275X3, 315X3, 315X3, 315X3, DB bench 100X12
Chins-3 sets of 10, Body Rows-3 sets of 12(my forearms and elbows are still pretty smoked from the weekend so I took it easy and switched to body rows)

Barbell Rows- 135X10, 225X10, 225X10, 225X10, 225X10
A super jacked gorilla told me this is the only exercise he does for lats, so I decided to put them in the mix. I really had to focus on squeezing with the lats instead of just herking and jerking away with my arms.

DB military-75X10, 75X8, 60X10, 60X10, 60X10

A bunch of shoulder mobs with bands and LAX ball.

CSM 2011

CSM RECAP

Pics and vids to follow soon, but here's the rundown in my own words.

CSM Recap:

I'm going to keep this short as my wife is putting together a video and its just easier to watch the fucking thing instead of me typing all afternoon.

Event #1 Tractor pull (CAT front end loader)
I lucked out on the raffle and got to go last. It was the same tractor we pulled last year but on a different surface (the venue was moved to a different part of the parking lot) thats right bitches, CSM is held in a parking lot!

In my mind it was an easy pull, I drilled it last year and was gonna drill it again in 2011. When my turn came up nobody had finished. I stuck to the plan, kept my head to the ground and moved my limbs fast. I came to a complete stop about 6-8' from the finish line but was able to HIP THRUST it back into motion and finished. Not sure on my time but it was over 1 min. Dizzy, incoherent, wobbly legged and dizzy are all good ways to decribe how I felt. Adrenaline carried me through the interview with Hugo but walking back to the ten was a long scary challenge.
1st PLACE !!! YEAH!

Event #2 Truck squat
Hugo was estimating it around 800lbs. We'll never know for sure, but i was really goddamn heavy. And, he made it very clear to us on sat morning that it was going to be a full squat, below parallel, no fucking around. This event buried me in 2008 and I was really looking forward to it this year. Def a bit nervous, but excited to squat.

When my turn came up (I was last to go again, that's so awesome to say) Only 5 guys had gotten reps and half the field got zero. My plan from the start was to get 1 rep and hang it up. Getting to go last helped my decision, as the leader had 7, 2nd place 6 and 2 guys tied with 4 reps in 3rd, and 1 guy with a single.
The squat felt like 405 at the top, and heavy as fuck in the hole. It felt good all the way through, I stayed tight in the bottom, soft touch, and up it went. It was pretty big grinder, my nose and eyes blew out pretty hard but man I was satisfied. Watching the video afterwards, perhaps a 2nd rep was possible, but not a smart move for the overall.
Very satisfied with this event.

Event #3 Tire flip
Tire flip has been a thorn in my side this summer. I used to be pretty damn good at it, and I feel its an event that has regressed this year. 955 for 100', I didn't finish, and my placing was 6th. Not too happy at all but it was over and time to move on.

Event #4 Power stairs (425, 475, 525)
I've never gotten the 11th stair with the 525 bell, and that was the main goal this day. They were also taking splits on 5 and 10 stairs so I wanted to blister then first ten just in case. First ten went smooth and then I took a little rest before #11, got it up real well, felt great, went for #13 but it was a bit much. PR on the stairs and 3rd place finish behind JF and Savoie. Pretty satisfied with this event also.

Event #5 pierres de atlas

Bandana Mike broke the 4th podium so the took out stone #5 and it was only a 4 stone run. I've nailed all 4 in competition 3 times this summer but on this day that 4th had my number. I finished in 4th place behind Mike, JF and Savoie. good points but pissed that I missed #4.

Finished Day 1 with the 4th spot locked down. 11 points over Jacki in 5th, and only 2 points behind Scott in 3rd.

Day #2 Pouring rain caused for some adjustments to the schedule, we didn't start till 3pm and they took out the medley. NBD I'm good at DL hold and farmers.

Event #1 DL hold.
This event isn't fun. I went till I suffocated myself and fell forward. Steve Bourgeois was coaching me from the sidelines and I had a decent time on 1:39, enough for 4th place. I've never had a hold crush my lungs like this one. I really did just suffocate, as it slowly pulled me down to the front, breathing got extremely difficult until everything went blurry and dark. Thanks to Steve for yelling in my ear and keeping me going. all I kept thinking about when it got tough was how bad I want on that podium.
This event moved into a tie for 3rd place. So the pain and suffering was worth it.

Event #2 Log Press for max
Log is another event that has regressed for me since last season. I hit 350 on Hugo's logs in competition consistently last summer and have not made it past 320 this season.

I went out at 320 and not sure how I placed, the score sheet Grant posted has to be a mistake as Rayner and I should've tied. We both went out on 320 on our second attempts. Perhaps not, doesnt matter now.

This slipped me 3 points back of 3rd and had Jacki breathing down my neck only 3 points back in 5th.

Event #3 Farmers walk.

330 for 200', Scott and I were head to head, I needed to beat him and have someone in between us. We both went out like a couple of retards and tried to out sprint one another. My wife said we had the sloppiest farmers of the entire field. I dropped twice before the turn. I was super gassed and just couldn't get the pick at the end. 120ish feet for 8th place. Scott went a bit more and finished in 7th on this event and secured his podium spot.

Overall 4th place. Very happy, but never satisfied completely. Always a few things that can be done better.
Awesome weekend, felicitations to JF Caron, Canada's Strongest Man 2011. A shout out to all the great guys I competed with and hung with all weekend. Rainman, great job this weekend man, it was great to be out there with you bro. (even though I'm a selfish MF in the athletes tent)

I will get another shot at that filthy ginger wilderbeast hunter in 2 weeks at the North Americans in Gatineau. (sept long weekend, I don't know the details but it will be on during the weekend at the balloon festival) If you are close, and don't come watch, you and I will no longer be friends. Gat will be the closest I've competed to home in the last 2 years. I expect some peeps to come out and see me swing my shit around.

CSM in less than 1 week

Last Weeks training went as planned, and now just a wee bit of a taper leading into my favorite show of the year.

GAME TIME!


Thurs Aug 11/11
MAF
Guest Starring, Jason "The Unicorn" Hansma

Box Jumps- 3X3 to 39"
Long Jump Throws-3X3 @7kg

2 Board Press (red+blk elite short bands)- 135X5, 175X3, 205X2, 215X3, 225X3, 135X11
Chins-4 sets of 10

DB Rows-5X10 @ 150lbs

Dips-X20, X17, X16

Prowler- 4 trips low/high


Sat Aug 13th 2011
Events

Tire flip- 4 sets of 3 flips (focus on explosive, and efficient), 1 set of 5 reps, felt good, fast and fluid.

Log-worked up to 285X1, 320X1, 255X3, 255X3

Stones-320 to 56" X3, X3, X3, X3

Nice and easy, as it should be.

Everything is feeling good, bodyweight is pretty steady at 259lbs. I feel ready and confident, especially coming off my podium finish in Warwick.

The Feelgood Session of the Summer

Tuesday aug 9/11
MAF

Military-135X8, 175X5, 200X3, 220X2, 185X8
Chins-3 sets of 8

Squat-225X8, 315X5, 390X4, X4, X4, X4, 445X2, 500X2, 390X10 (belt on for 500 set, squats finally feeling decent again, takes a lot of sets to get under the bar though)

RDL-315X12, 405X10
Weighted sit-ups-25lbs behind head X2 sets of 15

Prowler- 4 trips low/high

It was pretty awesome to get this sesh in and leave the gym feeling alright.




Last/First: The last song in the car on the radio, on my way to work and the first song on the playlist when I walk in the gym.

Today's Last/First was an eerie co-incidence, both songs by the same band, and even more interesting is that another song by the same band plays as I type this.

Last



First

Catch-up, not Ketchup

Big Catch-up post. I'm still not sure where the hell the week went. Since its sooooo long and texty, I've posted a video and the end to keep you interested!

Tuesday Aug 2nd
MAF

Military-135X8, 160X3, 190X3, 210X6

Squats-225X8, 315X5, 380X4, 380X4, 380X4, 380X4, 435X2, 435X2, 380X11 (good to be squatting again, felt pretty good, took many sets to get in the groove and get myself under the bar correctly.)

GHR-2 sets of 15
GHR Sit-ups- 2 set of 15

Prowler- 2 trips, low/high
500m row-1:29.7
Extreme manlge



Thurs Aug 4/2011
MAF

Box jumps-3X3 to 39"
Long jump throws-3X3 (7kg)

2 board press (red and black elite short bands)-135X5, 175X3, 185X3, X3, X3, X3, 205x3, 205x3, 135x8
Facepulls-20 reps after each set

DB Rows=120X5 sets of 10/arm

The gym was very hot this night, I think I overheated a bit, after the DB rows I felt like I had just drilled the prowler. I opted to stop and get the conditioning work in the next evening.


Friday Aug 5th 2011
Cond

650 tire- 3 sets of 10 flips

500m row-1:27.2




Saturday Aug 6th
EVENTS

DE log-worked up to 3 sets of 3 @285, 305X1 (this single felt very crisp after all the DE practice)

Stones-warmed up to: 385 to 56" X2 sets of 2, 410 to 56" (tried for a double but hands were dirty, this felt super easy)

Tire flip-100', second round of 150' alternating reps with pete. (which meant I did the last 100' in doubles with short rests while he attempted)
Good pop and technique on the second set of tire

Garage Reunion

Sat july 30th 2011
Events

DE log- worked up to 3 sets of 3 @255, 275X1, 305X1

Stones-350 to 56" pot, 350 to 56X2, X2, X2, 385X1 to 54", 410X1 to 51"

Tire flip- 2 sets of 100'

Quick sesh, but got all the planned work completed.
Had Smeagol and Ricky join us for what will be Rick's last training sesh at the garage for a while, and then a big jacked tycoon showed up late and started drilling the tire with us. Good to see everyone out today.

Back in the Pain Cave

hurs july 28/ 2011
MAF

DE squats- 6 sets of 2 @ 365, sqautting felt decent, getting a tight set up was toughan upper back has a huge rug burn from the yoke last weekend.
Chins X10 after each set

2 board press- (efts pro short bands red + black) bands X5, 135+bands X5, 175+bands X 5 sets of 5 (5th rep was hard work on each set), 95+bands X 2 sets of 10
Facepulls X20 after each set

DB row- 5 sets of 10/arm @ 120lbs

2 way shoulder raise- 2 sets of 15 (rear+side)
Dips- 2 sets of 15

Prowler- 2 trips low/high
500m row-1:30

The rower was super tough after the prowler, rest period between prowl/row was aprox 3 mins

Total devastation, laid on the floor for 20mins and then sat in my office for another half hour before I was capable of functioning normally.

Deadlift and Prowler with El Guapo

Tues July 26th 2011
MAF

Military-135X8, 150X5, 175X5, 200X7, 155X15
Chins-3X10

Deadlift-315X5, 405X2, 500X4, 500X4, 500X4, 500X4, 570X2, 570X2, 500X7 (So good to be lifting again)

Walking lunges-2 sets of across the room and back w/70lbs (havent done these in forever and they kicked the shit out of me, pretty pathetic too, used to do them with 120's, today I asked sarah what she used (65's) and then went one set heavier)

GHR-2 sets of 15

Prowler-3 trips, 1 plate, low/high

Had a guest training partner out for the lift tonight, Nathan DonoHUGE, was back in the homeland for the week and made the trip out to Renfrew to drill some weights. It was great to see El Guapo again since he has now gotten into strongman since leaving the Luciador game.

Travel, Compete, Rest, Repeat

After my first weekend off in 4, I was on the road again to Warwick Quebec (Victoriaville). For another North American Cup.

I also just got in a batch of sick shirts from my new sponsor RescindX (please check out their site on my "links" sidebar), I had already left for the trip before the box of shirts arrived so I just went shirtless on the weekend.
Here's my summary of the event as posted on my training log and few shots.

July 23-24, North American Cup Warwick.

Event #1 Truck pull (Harness)
Truck was only 19,000lbs, we all were expecting it to be a speed race, but the surface was very rough, uneven and patched asphalt repairs all over. There was a very definitive sticking point where everyone was stopping. I ended up with 28' and small change, I believe it put me in 5th place. And my arch rival Gorilla Mike with his goddamn bandana was 2 spots ahead and started in with an early 2 point lead.

Event #2 Progressive Yoke for max (30' and then add more weight, one drop allowed per attempt)
Weight started at 700lbs, yoke height was also set to one height and not adjusted for anyone. Luckily I was just tall enough to get it off the ground. (It was set to 1 hole higher than I usually use on Hugo's Yokes)
700, 790, 880, 1000, 1100. I had no drops on 7,8,9,1000, I was 3rd to go on 1100, Ricky Larocca went right before me and I knew he's a Yoke beast, he went about 6-8'. My pick felt great, my goal was slow and steady, I got a good rythym going and moved to about the halfway mark and was folding forward a bit. I put it down before it completely collapsed me. I took about 10-15 seconds rest, got back under got my rythym going again, right on track, when I got close to the finish line I got a bit greedy/excited and lost my concentration, dropped with the foot of the yoke half way over the finish line, it scored out to 29 and change. 1st place. (First event win at this level of show for me)

Event #3 Power stairs (425, 475, 525)
Super awesome being the last guy to was pretty cool, I was chillin' in my chair while Caron and Savoie were taking their turns.
My main goal was to beat gorilla Mike, who had done 11 stairs, so I had 12 in my mind and got to work. The first bell was cake, second bell went well but I had to work for every stair, 3rd bell is a big heavy bitch and I couldn't get it high enough. 10 Stairs, 5th place (one spot behind mike)


Event #3 Pierres de atlas (265, 3??, 330, 360, 380) to (56, 56, 56, 56, 60)
I've been using Elite regular formula tacky in the heat and its been amazing. It was super hot this day so I waited to put it on until it was almost my turn. At the last show I got all 4 in 30sec so my goal this day was to pace myself and hit all 5. I ended up drilling the first 4 in 36 seconds, took a long rest and was still unable to get #5 in my lap. I didn't got out and dust off the 5th which may have helped some. My hands were covered in gravel like dirt after attempting the 5th. I think this got me either 3rd or 4th place.

I was in 3rd postion after day 1 with a 4 point lead on bandana head.

Day #2

Event #1 Tire flip (we were supposed to do Herc hold, but they couldnt find the keys for the cars so Tire flip was subbed in last second, then they did find the keys but tires were already set up, so we were told that we were doing 5 events today instead of 4)
My tire needs some work. I was fast and efficient, but the 100' distance always kills me about 2 flips shy of the finish line. I finished 5th on this event and mike cut my lead to 2 points.

Event #2 Herc Hold (I really like this event)
I was hoping for a big points finish in this as I have killed it in the past. My left hand had a big blood blister from powerstairs the day before, I felt it tear off around 20 sec, I just thought "fuck it, its torn now, keep going" but the blood and fluid caused it to really start to slip. 26.01 seconds, I was pretty disappointed.
Mike closed to gap and we were tied with 3 events to go.

Event #3 Max log
I have been struggling with my max log all season and cant seem to get the 340 monkey off my back. Today things were feeling great but still couldnt finish that pig. I actually did get it locked out, but lost it as I was standing up out of my split. Still got some solid points 320lbs got me 4th place. Put my lead back up to 3 points over mike in 4th place. Meanwhile Caron and Savoie were running away from the pack as they had their own battle going on.

Event #4 Farmers- 320 per hand 200' with a turn at 100'
Now I was also in a points battle with Jessen, trying to protect my 3 place. He was .5 points behind me going into farmers and we were going head to head. I took off fast and felt great, turned, dropped, repick got about half way back and my left tore open again. I looked back and Jessen was still at the turn taking a rest, so I rested and watched him from a ready position, as soon as he moved to start again I pickedd and took off, got another 10-15' and my left let go, Jessen was coming steady so I picked fast got only another 10-15 as he went steadily to the finish. 4th place on farmers and now in 4th overall by .5 of a point.

Event #5 Carry and Drag (425 bell, 600lb chain, 100' each)
It was do or die for 3rd place, again going head to head with Jason. I was ready to die trying to beat this gorilla. I ran hard and steady with the bell, as I started the chain I watched Jessen cross the line with his bell, the benefit of the backwards drag was I could watch him and keep going, he took a long rest and I knew I had him. I stayed on the gas until I knew I was past Mikes finish and then I just stood up and celebrated the 3rd place overall. (Yeah I know its only 3rd, but its a big 3rd place for me so fuck off)
Jessen was telling everyone that I was his protege, and that the student had finally become better than the teacher, that was a pretty good compliment but I'm sure it's not going to ever be easy to place ahead of that guy again. The race with Mike was also a good motivator all weekend, especially after I shit the bed in Lac Simon.

Very happy with my placing, but I still feel like I have some holes to tune up before CSM. I still don't feel like I've had a show where I was killing it as best I could on everything. Hopefully it all comes together when it matters most.

"And the Road Becomes My Bride"

With only a week in between, I have nothing of great note to write about in the week between OSM/NA in Toronto and the Dryden Pro. Did a couple of solid DE warm-ups and just got some sweat going. Pushed the prowler twice during the week, nothing crazy.

On Friday (June 24th) morning, I drove to the Ottawa airport and flew out to Thunder Bay.  (It was a trip down memory lane to fly over town and then drive around a bit before we left T-Bay for the 4 hr drive to Dryden) 

Dryden summary;

Luke put together a really great weekend for all the competitors. Venue, events, organization, hotels, money etc. Top shelf. One thing I really like about the way he runs a show, is timing. When he says we start at 1pm, he's not fucking joking, everything ran on time.  Also a tip of the hat to the top notch refereeing of Jeff Peterson.  Jeff always looks the part with his shirt and tie.  (until he blew the ass out of his dress pants)


Event #1 Tire flip 80'

Started off pretty solid, had a good rhythm going, slowed down a fair bit, tire got a wee bit dusty near the end and I had to switch to putting it on my knee for the last flip, came up one flip short of the finish, 3rd place. I think I said some swears as I walked off, not too happy about this. going early def lowers my expectations.

(I'm in the far lane)


Event #2
300 Axle clean and press each rep

This went okay, I haven't really done much axle practice, but its still just a clean and press, my timing was a bit rushed, but I managed 5 reps without any misses during the 75 seconds. tied for 2nd

Event #3
Truck DL for reps

When I got up, most of the big guns had already lifted (Luke Dallas and Krazy Karl) so I knew what I had to beat. Dallas was leading with 12 reps. My plan was to get a good rythym and not stop. I think I banged out 10-11 in the first shot, everything felt good, took a short breather, and on my mind was how I fucked it up at OSM by stopping to breath and then couldnt restart. I put everything I had into the next rep and it went well, banged out 13 total for the win. This was a good redemption event after having last go at OSM and sucking it up.

Event #4
Train Wheel Carry

The leader had 320' and there were a bunch of guys all around the 250' mark. With the last turn advantage I planned on going 321', when I made the turn at 240' and looked all the way down to the 320' mark, I knew realistically I wasn't going to make it, so I aimed past where all the others were tied up at 250ish. I ended up at 245 and change for 2nd place.

Following this event, I took a 3 point lead over THEE DAVE OSTLUND! With only 2 events left, a win was within my grasp. And that's where my problems began. I think I lost my head a bit and instead going into full blown maniac mode, I was bit rattled.

Event #5
Medley (160 circus DB, 350 farmers 50', 600lb drag 50')
Normally this should be an excellent event for me, one where I could've even scooped an extra point on Big Dave, but today it was not. I felt like I went out pretty well, my drag was better than I expected, but I was a little too cautious with the farmers. 51 seconds. 3rd place, Ostlund won this event and put my lead down to only 1 point.

Event #6
Stone for reps (360lbs to 56" bar)

Stones used to be my bread and butter. Obviously I wasn't about to beat Ostlund and this, but I still wanted some redemption from OSM. Not today, only 4 measly reps. No excuses, my stones are just not where they used to be. I will be getting back to the lab and fixing this problem asap. almost doesn't matter where I finished here as Ostlund is one the best in the world at stones. He drilled 10 reps with room to spare and I tied for 4th.

Overall I finished 2nd to Dave Ostlund, which is pretty cool, I held the lead and let a potential win slip. No tears, no excuses, learn adapt, move forward.

I even scooped a couple of pics with my name atop the leader board for that brief moment of glory when I was leading.

It was a pleasure to compete against all the competitors, some new faces from the USA and some of western counterparts from Sask and Manitoba.

I also struck a deal with Dave and I am now the exclusive Canadian retailer of Elite Tacky. I will be bringing a good supply to all comps that I attend, as well as having it in stock at both of my gyms and very soon it will be available on my website.

Great weekend on the road in the gorilla bus. Dallas, Rainman, Big Daddy and Krazy Karl. 1400lbs of Meat in a van, 5 Alpha dogs on the road, look the fuck out. Good times. We pulled many stares and questions wherever we went.  And I was clearly "the little one", as was pointed out at a corner store grocery in the middle of no-where.

Weekend Update

A busy competition weekend for both Sarah and myself at the Toronto Super Show.

On Friday we were both competing at the same time. As I plowed my way to a 3rd Ontario's Stongest Man Title. (2009, 2010, 2011) Sarah was lifting raw in the OPA powerlifting meet going on across the convention hall.

I want to give a shout out to Sarah who despite missing her thirds in all 3 lifts (and was extremely sour about it for about 2 days) still drilled some decent numbers and won the women's overall. She squatted 303, benched 215 and pulled 370.

We also had 2 lifters lifting on Saturday in the full equipment meet also put on by the OPA. Shout out to Jayne Major 2nd place women's, and Rebecca Mckeen. Good Job Ladies.

Here's a summary of my contests from my training log:
OSM quick summary

Log (280 clean each rep)- plan was for 8 reps, things were going as planned, rushed the 8th and missed it just above my head. 3 way tie for 1st. I am pretty irritated with myself, as I didn't stick to my plan 100%. I had timed out 8 reps, there was no need to rush.

Power stairs (425,425,475)- The fact that they used lighter bells than we use at CSM, didn't change much, this is still a massive back grizzler. 13 stairs, picked the bell up twice towards 14 but was coming up about an inch short each time.
13 stairs held up for the win.

Car DL- after big D only got 7, and many guys zero'd, it was obvious this was a legit heavy pull. I got a good rythm going and pulled the first 7, ref told me I had 40 second left, I stopped to breath, hoping to pull 2 more, but after the rest the car felt bolted to the floor. 2 guys tied for 1st w/ 8 so big D and I tied for 3rd place points with 7 a piece.

Stone for reps- was only able to place it in the pot 3 times. A bit disappointing, Karl made us all look like monkeys when he drilled it for 5 with time to spare. I think this placed me in 3rd for this event.

Medley-(260 farmers/chain drag)I had about a 3 point lead overall, Kyle and I were head to head, I really like Medleys, this one was a bit of a sprint as the chain slid very well on the smooth floor, 20.?? Seconds, for 1st place and sealed the deal on 1st overall.





North American Cup summary (saturday after osm)

I had a fairly good rest and put into play recovery modalities like ice/hot baths (luckily my room had a jacuzzi bath), plenty of fluids and food.

Event 1 Hercules Hold
I love this event. after Jackie Oullette went for 15 sec we all knew it was pretty heavy. (Jackie won this event at CSM 2010), When I got to 20 sec I tried to count to 5 in my head but the handles were slipping out of my fingers. 23 and change, good enough for 2nd place. Old balls Jason (Jessen Poulin went 33 for the win) He taught me how to do this event so I guess he didnt share all his secrets.

Event 2 Car DL hold- (we used the exact same set up that was used on Friday at OSM, which was heavy but I was able to pull 7 reps)
I left my suit off for this feeling that the suit would lessen my time, my mistake was that the suit would've helped me get it off the floor. Big fat ZERO. Back and legs told me to go hump my hat.

Event 3- Wheel barrow (although I'm not awesome at this event, I do enjoy it)

I hung in until the weight in the barrow got up to 2110lbs. I moved it 2' and change for about 5th place. This tears the hands pretty good, I opened up a small tear on my right index finger, but came away without massive hand damage.


Event 4- Log for max
This is usually a good event for me, but after all the low back and legs, I wasn't expecting any PR's (But I still had it in my head to try) I even asked Brian D to watch my attempts and help me choose jumps that may lead to a 360lb log, but it wasn't in the cards. I got 320 and missed 340. My log press depends heavily on my legs and they weren't there today.

Event 5- Pierres de atlas (Atlas Stones)
Another fave of mine, despite my stones being a bit poor overall lately. 265-308-330-355-385 to 56" podiums/pots.
I drilled the first 3 in 15 seconds and the 4th proved a bit much for me this day. I also grabbed the stone in a poor position and had crumbly concrete all over my hands.
I think my time was good enough for 4th place on the stones. JF Caron loaded all 5, which if you've ever done Hugo's stones, you understand that its kind of a big deal.

Event 6- tire flip
I'm a fan of the tire flip, especially Hugo's tires. Unfortunately I slipped on the smooth concrete on my first flip and fell on my face, this cost a big chunk of time and had me finish in 43 seconds. Not sure where I placed on this event but it wasnt' great.

Finished in 6th overall behind; 1st Savoie, 2nd Caron, 3rd Cummine, 4th Jackie, 5th Jason Poolin.

It was pretty cool to compete against a legend like Karl Gillingham, and also to finish ahead of him in the overall. (he had broken fingers and lots of other old guy ailments but I'll take it)

Good times out for breakfast and dinner with a bunch of the competitors.

Dirty Black Summer

Thurs June 9th 2011
MAF

Squat-405X2, 405X2, 405X10

Swiss bar bench-180X8, 230X5, 250X2, 320X1, 360X1, 375X1, 320X7
Chins- 3 sets of 12

DB row-150X12/arm X 3 sets
DB military-85X8 X 3 sets

Prowler- 3 trips (low/high)

OSM Taper (Not tape worm)

Tues June 7th 2011
MAF

Military-135X5, 135X5, 165X5, 190X5, 215X6, 135X20

Deads-225X5, 315X4, 405X4, 525X4, 525X4, 525X4, 525X4, 600X2 (Dropped the last 2 sets of 670X2, 525X10 as I taper for OSM) All sets sans belt

GHR-3 sets of 15
Weighted sit-ups- (+25) X15, X12, X12

Prowler- 2 trips (Not sliding at all tonight, first trip low/high, second trip I couldn't get it to slide on lows)


7 meals, 7 trips to the shitter, 254lbs with abs.

Push/Pull weekend

We hosted a bench and deadlift meet at our Renfrew location this past saturday. The event was held as a fundraiser for my wife, she is going to the IPF world's in November in Czech Republic.

We had a great turn out and I think everyone who participated had a good time. Thank you to everyone who came out to support our cause. All the lifters, spectators, sponsors and volunteers. Thanks

Since the meet took up most of the day on Sat. I moved my events to sunday.

Sunday May 29th
Events

Log clean and press each rep- worked up to 255X6, 265X6

Stones-300X4, 300X3, 300X5 and then a bunch of singles all to 56" (garage was very wet and damp, all equipment, especially stones was wet, almost like everything had condensation on it. Got some work in, tacky was not working too well at all)

Sled drags- 2 drags @ 80'



PM session

GHR-3 sets of 15
weighted sit-ups-25lbs 3 sets of 15

Rear delt raise-4 sets of 20
Wide grip bent rows-3 sets of 12

Prowler drags-2 trips @150'

cable pushdowns-6 sets of 10


Sorta kinda a deload weekend, took everything pretty light duty and got lots of sleep.

Swiss Benchin' and raw meet shout-out

I want to bring it to everyones (who reads this) attention that there will be Bench only meet put on by Hostyle Conditioning and 100% Raw in Ottawa on June 25th, 2011.
For meet details and sign-up info please email curd@gmail.com or visit www.powerliftingcanada.com .


Good sesh this evening.  Slow start, but got the business moving and things fell into place (or were forced into place)

Thurs May 26th 2011
MAF

DE Squats-6 sets of 2 @405 (starting to feel pretty decent, good depth, fairly smooth, still need better upper back position)

Swiss bar bench-180X6, 230X3, 270X2, 320X2, 360X1, 370X1, 320X5

T-bar row-3 plates X15, 3 plates X15, 4 plates X12, 4 plates X15 drop 3pl X10 drop 2pl X15
DB incline-100X10, 100X10, 100X12

500m row-1:27.4

Decent sesh

The Paralyzer

This work-out usually makes the next morning a slow one. Low back, hams and obliques are smashed.

Tues May 24th 2011
MAF

Military- 135X8, 135X5, 175X3, 195X3, 220X3 (presc reps only)

Deadlift- 315X5, 405X3, 515X4, 515X4, 515X4, 515X4, 590X2, 660X2 (belt on for this set only, first rep was crisp, second was slow but stayed in the groove), 515X10

DB Side bends-3 sets of 15 per side 150lbs

Prowler- 5 trips

Sweatty Events

Sat May 21st, 2011
Events

Arm over Arm- 3 or 4 pulls

Log- clean each rep, worked up to 255X3, X5, 275X1, 305X1 (outside)

Farmers-270X100', 300X100'

Stones-270, 285, 300, 320, 350 to 60", 56", 56", 56" X2 runs, 413 to 54", 413 to 51" (tacky was hooking up good today, stones were warm enough that they were very sticky, despite being dirty as fuck)

Tire Flip- 75 seconds for max flips- X9, X6 (quit premature on set #2)

Good sesh, first really hot day of the season, sunny, humid, estimate 30 degrees.


Sunday May 21st 2011
Acc

A bunch of bodybuilding (pecs, delts, triceps, biceps)
NBD

Strong events weekend

Sat May 14th 2011
Events (with big daddy)

Log- clean and press each rep-worked up to 285X3 X3sets, felt solid, cleans were smooth.

Car DL- X5 easy (belt&straps), X5moderate (suit,straps belt), X5 handles all the way in. Felt good

Stones-270-285-300-320-350 to 60"-56"-54"-51-51" X2 runs, then, all same stones to 56" as a run (help from training partners to make it work)

Farmers-270X100' (turn at 50') raining hard so we shut this down


Sunday May 15th
AM session

Arm over arm- 3 sets

Axle clean and press-worked up to 290X3

Circus DB X1 (feeling super mangled and made the right decision to stop)

Getting up and trying to drill events in the early AM (8:30am) was bad idea, we were all super sore, even with a decent warm-up.

PM session
A bunch of accesories

good pump.

Tues May 17th 2011
MAF

Military-135X10, 135X5, 160X5, 185X5, 210X7

Squat-225X8, 315X5, 385X4, 385X4, 385X4, 385X4, 435X2, 435X2, 385X10

GHR-3 sets of 15
GHR sit-ups- 3 set of 15

Prowler-3 trips + one light trip

Tuesday's Gone

Decent lift tonight. 

Tues May 10th/2011
MAF

Military-135X5, X5, X5

Deadlift- 225X8, 315X5, 405X3, 505X4, 505X4, 505X4, 505X4, 585X2, 585X2, 505X10 (No belt on any sets)

GHR-X15, X15, X15
Pulldown abs- 130X12, X12, X15

Prowler-4 trips (medium/short duration rest intervals)

Looking forward to doing some of these on Thurs.

Who's your Daddy

Another week on the files.  Gym lifts-no big deal,  Events-oh yeah!

Sat April 30th 2011
Events

Stones-285X1, X1, X1 to 60", 300X1, X2, X1,X1,X1 to 60", 320X2 to 60", 350X1 to 60" (Wanted to work on my top end and 60" is the best way to do so)
270,300, 300, 320, 350 to 60", 56", 54", 51", 51" X2 runs. (This is the first time my stones have had good flow in a long time, posted some good speed on these runs)

Log- worked up to 3X3 @ 265, felt good, 2nd set was best.

Farmers- 200X100', 270X100', 300X50', 340X50', 300X100' (all sets of 100' had turn at 50')

Arm over arm- 2 sets


Sunday May 1st/2011
ACC

Pec Deck- 3 sets of 12

Incline DB Press-80X15, 80X12, 80X10, 90X8 (no lock-out, deep stretch at bottom)

Wide Dips- X30, X26

Seated DB side raise- 3 sets of 12

Bent over side raise-3 sets of 25 (30 sec rests)

Arnold Press- 50X11

Rope Pushdowns-100X15, 110X12, 120X10 (45 sec rests)

Dips- +50lbs X11, X9

Lying DB extensions- 1 set of 20

Standing calf press-5 sets of 20 (45 sec rests)'

 

 

 

 

Tues May 3rd 2011
MAF

Military-135X8, 155X3, 180X5, 205X3, 230X4 (meh, the work-up sets felt great, thought I would do much better here)

Squats- (Its been a while) 135X10, 225X5, 315X3, 405X1, 455X1, 495X1, 525X1 ugly, 525X1 also ugly

GHR-4X15
Pulldown abs-4X12

Rower 500m X1:31 (nice and easy, to avoid serious ab cramps. Like the kind that feels like there's a small animal running around inside your belly.)

 

"Next time, we eat a rusty hook"

 

 

2 More in the Bag

Tues April 26th 2011
MAF

Military-135X8, 170X3, 195X3, 215X6

Deadlift-225X5, 315X3, 405X3, 525X4, 525X4, 525X4, 525X4, 600X2, 670X1(was supposed to be a double), 525X8 (used belt only on 670 set)

GHR-3 sets of 12
Hanging leg raise-3 sets of 10

I usually want to lash out with massive temper tantrums upon missing a prescribed rep, but I was gonna scrap this entire session and go home to bed early, but then talked myself into lifting no matter what. So tonight, for one night only, a shitty session was better than no session. FML

April 28/11
MAF

Box jumps-2 sets of 3 to 39" @ bw, 2 sets of 3 to 39" @ 15lbs vest

Bench-135X8,185X5, 225X3, 260X2, 300X1, 340X1, 355X1, 380X1, 275X10
Chins-4 set of 10 (various grips)

DB rows-150X15/arm X 3 sets
DB military-80X10, X10, X11

Prowler-4 trips

Decent sesh, nothing crazy but felt good and got some good quality rows in.

Absentee Blogger

What up blog?

What you know about bloggin' , Hater?

The pattern repeats itself and again I fall victim to the busy office life and my poor blog goes stale.
My apologies to any and all of the faithful followers.

2 weeks ago (April 16th) was my dad's birthday.  Unfortunately I was not celebrating it with him, I was in Trenton ON, for the east/central OSM Qualifier.  As one would expect, we got cold and rain in the forcast, just in time for the first outdoor show of the season.

My goal heading into this particular show was to "sweep" all of the planned events.
The events of the day were;
300lbs per hand farmers for 150', 585lbs barbell deadlift for reps, 270lbs log, clean once, press for reps, Car deadlift hold w/straps, and Keg loading.

Naturally I could write out a long winded summary of my experiences that day, but today, I'm going to do you one better.  I'm going to let you watch it in full color video with sound! Imagine that!?!

I do want to note that my strategy for the day was to get in the lead spot after event 1 and stay there so that I would always know exactly how much effort, reps or time would be required to win.  This did happen and worked in my favor for the sweep, but also brought about criticism from my wife for "not doing very much"

It also should be noted that the 5th event was cancelled due to time, cold and rain.  We started the show around 4:30pm and the car deadlift hold was complete around 9pm.  A vote was taken and the athletes decided to call it quits after 4 events.

Epic Meat Logs, Jack and Coke Ribs, Maple syrup/whiskey/bbq saowce!

This weekend we had a few peeps over to the homestead to celebrate Sarah's Nationals Success.

Since Saturday is typically cheat meal night for most, I decided that it would be a good opportunity to try my hand at something of "epic mealtime" proportions.

I put together:  2 meat logs, each made up of ground beef, bacon weaves, custom whisky bbq saowse, Miss Vickey's jalpeno chips, and Cheese....a lot of cheese.
Pork Back ribs par-boiled in Rye and coke, then slow cooked for 2hrs in our own custom whisky bbq saowse.
The appetizer to all this MEAT, was candied bacon.  Unreal.


Oh yeah, here's my training;

Thurs April 7th 2011
MAF

Squats-225X10, 315X5, 370X5, 405X10 (substituted this for DE Squats)

Bench- 135X10, 225X5, 275X3, 315X1, 355X1, 375X1, 275X12
Chins- A set of 10 after each bench set

DB rows- 150X15/arm, 150X15/arm, ,150X15/arm
DB military-80X10, 80X10, 80X10

Prowler- 3 trips




Sat April 9th 2011
Events

Log (one clean)- 185X5, 235X5, 255X5, 275X5, 305X3

Farmers-210 X 150', practice picks, speed and turns. Felt great as it should without any weight in the hand.

Keg loads- a few loads for practice, keg handling maneuvers.

Stones- 255-265-285-300-320 to 60", 56", 54", 51", 51" X2 runs, nice and easy.

tire flip- 75sec X 9 flips

Good sesh

Sun April 10th 2011
ACC

Started a new plan that was put together for me by a bodybuilder to help increase hypertrophy in my "puny" areas.

Pec deck- 3X12 with 1 second squeeze at the peak of each rep

Incline DB press-75X15, 80X11, 80X9, 80X8 (never completely locking out reps and using a slow negative)

Wide grip dips- X18, X20

Seated DB lateral raise- 20X12, 20X12, 20X12 slow negative
Lat pulldowns-X15, X12, X10, X8

Bent over rear delt raise- 15X25 reps, 30 sec rest, 15X25, 30 sec rest, 15X25
(This was a face melter)

Rope pushdowns-X15, X12, X10 1 sec squeeze at peak of rep

Dips- +45lbs X10, X10

Skull crushers lying on floor- X20 reps

Barbell curls- X25 reps

Crazy pump, triceps were mangled and we measured my arms, chest and shoulders before the start of the work-out as part of the overall experiment for growth. My arms grew 1" from the pump. Hows that for a supplement ad statement? Add 1" to your arms in just one work-out!!!"

Big Ketchup

I'm Back Bitches!

Catching up on the blog after a trip to PEI and a busy start back to the work week.
We travelled to Charlottown PEI last tues-friday for the CPU Canadian Powerlifting Championships, where my wife Sarah smashed some weights. 
She now has a National Gold Medal and a big tropy that says Best Lifter Women's Open.
You can check out all the details of her lifting HERE!

Here's what I've been up to for the last week;

Tues Mar 29th 2011
MAF (Island performance gym PEI)

Military-60kgX8, 65kg(165)X3, 85kg(190)X3, 97.5kg(215)X7, 80kg(175)X12

Squats-60kgX10, 100kgX8, 140kgX5, 182.52kg(403)X4, X4, X4, X4, 207.5kg(457)X2, 232.5kg(512)X2,
182.5kg(403)X11 This squat session felt awesome, my mobility felt great, I was able to keep position very well and everything just felt on. 512 felt like a joke, but I stuck to the plan regardless.

RDL (they had no back extension bench or GHR at this gym)
140kgX8, 140kgX10, 140kgX15
Decline sit-ups-10kg behind neck-X10, X10, X12

Purple band leg curls-2 sets of 25

Good sesh


Thurs Mar 31/2011
MAF (Island performance gym)

DE Deads-225kg(496) 7 sets of 1

Bench-135X10, 225X5, 280X5, 315X3, 355X2, 315X2, 225X3 Bench felt pretty gay. Not really sure why it was off so much, but it was. Very frustrated.

DB Rows-150X12/arm, 150X12/arm (the 150's at this gym had normal size handles and it made them feel super easy), 200X8/arm (the 200's had little handles too, but they were not easy)
DB military-75X10, 80X10, 90X8

Big contrast to Tuesdays work.



Sat April 2nd 2011
Events

Farmers-worked up to 300X150, 300X150 (Second set was faster, felt great, but I still want to improve these)

Log (1 clean)-worked up to 275X3, 275X3, 275X3, 275X6

Stones- 320X5 to 56", 320X5 to 56", 320X5 to 56" (stones felt much better after we opened a new tacky jar and realized the one we've been using for the last 2 months was junk)

Car DL Hold (w/straps)-X45sec, X55sec (puked in my mouth on the first one and had to stop)

Tire flip-(75 sec) X9, X8


Tues April 5th 2011
MAF

Military-135X8, 155X3, 180X5, 200X3, 225X6 (I think this may be a PR) Felt nice and solid

Deadlift-225X8, 405X5, 515X4, 515X4, 515X4, 515X4, 590X2, 660X2 (belt), 515X10 (second rep on 660 was pretty ugly, I was happy to get the work in.)

GHR Sit-ups-(black band) X15, X12, X10

Prowler-4 trips

T.O. Super Show Invite

Had a good sesh on Tues, it felt a lot harder than it should've but I keep my shit together and got the work done.
The prowler has now become a regular "finisher" to my tues and thurs sessions, its great to have it back.

Tues Mar 22nd 2011
MAF

Military-135X10, 155X5, 180X5, 200X8

Deadlift- 225X5, 315X5, 405X5, 505X4, 505X4, 505X4, 505X4, 580X2, 580X2, 505X10

DB side bends-150X20/side, 150X20/side
Pulldown abs- 120X12, 120X12

Prowler-3 trips , low down/high back, 1 plate per post (aprox 25yds)


I got an invitation to compete at the North American Pro Strongman that will be taking place at the Toronto Super show.  Looking forward to this, it should be a great show.

1st Outdoor Events 2011

Thurs Mar 17/2011
MAF

DE Deads- 6 sets of 1 @ 475

Bench-135X10, 240X5, 280X5, 315X8, 225X12
Fat gripz chins X10 after every set

DB Rows-150X10/arm, 150X12/arm, 150X12/arm
DB Military-85X10, 85X9, 85X9

Prowler- 5 trips (1 plate, low/high, aprox 20yds)


Saturday Mar 19th 2011
Events

DE Log- worked up to 3 sets of 3 @ 275, starting to get things dialed in. Felt good this week.

Stones- 3 runs of : 265, 285, 300, 320, 350 to 60", 56", 54", 51", 51" The goal was to complete each run efficiently and that goal was met. (all stones 20")

Farmers- one warm-up set (dont remeber the weight), 300X100' with a turn @ 75', 300X150' turn @ 75' (one drop around 100') This needs some serious improvement

Car deadlift hold- 1 set with straps, 1 set without straps. Don't remeber times, doesn't matter

Tire Flip-2 sets of 75 seconds, 7 flips, 7 flips (this was devastating, I couldn't believe how difficult is was today, but great to be outside flipping again)


Sunday Mar 20th 2011
ACC

Power Cleans-worked up to 265X3 X3 X3

DB incline-80X12, 100X12, 100X10, 100X12 rest/pause X2 rest /pauseX2
Lat Pulldowns-120X20, 160X20, 160X20, 160X18

DB Rear delt raise- 3 sets of 15

DB Side raise-3 sets of 15
Face Pulls-3 sets of 20

Barbell Curls-3 sets of 20
Rope Pushdowns-3 sets of 25

World's Worst Squatter

Tues Mar 15/2011
MAF

Military-135X10, 135X5, 155X5, 175X5, 210X3, 220X5 , 155X15

Squat-225X5, 315X5, 390X4, 390X4, 390X4, 390X4, 445X2, 500X2, 390X11


GHR-3 sets of 12
Landmines- 3 sets of 12 +25lbs

Prowler-2 plates per post, 3 trips, all high handles, the ground was wet and low handles just weren't in the cards no matter how hard we tried

Top set of Squats ( Second rep was a tad high)

2011 Arnold Recap

Day #1 Officials

Arnold 2011 recap

Friday Mar 4 2011

Event #1 950 Yoke 60'

During warm-ups I was very happy to find that this yoke was either A) not 950 or B) not comparable to 950 on my yoke. It felt very light and easy. This was both a good thing and a bad thing. It meant that it was going to be a turbo sprint race.

I started out moving very well, hit my rythym quickly and was going too fast. The yoke had some play in the uprights and it started to bang around left to right and I dropped it. In a pannick I immediately picked again and started out fast again, which was a mistake, still sloppy and dropped again. 3rd pick I had my head about me and started out slow and steady, was much tighter and finished. Time was around 24 seconds I think, not good at all. I was hoping to be under 20 seconds on this event.

Event #2 325 axle clean and press each rep

About to lift as a legend looks on

My goal was 4 reps, I had a plan/process in place.

I ended up missing the lock-out on my second attempt and was behind on the time for my 4 rep plan. I stuck to it though and was able to pull out 3 reps with a few seconds to spare.
Not to bad, this wasnt a massive disapointment but not awesome either.

Event #3 800 frame carry 60', 800 frame drag 60'
(The game changer here, and likely saving grace for my standings was that if you didn't finish the frame carry, you got a big fat zero)

Not sure on my time here, I dropped the frame at least 3-4 times, my left hand kept slipping off, finally got the carry done, the drag was pretty easy, the concrete was smooth and it slid well. I was one of about 6-8 guys that actually finished. Good points jump here.

Event #4 Car DL for reps

I was in 12th place going into this event. My goal was 20 reps as I needed a big score to jump into the top 10.
Everything felt great, I actually did 18 reps but was only credited with 17 as I didn't wait for the lift command on the 3 rep. (We got both a lift command, and a good rep command, so no bouncing was possible)
17 reps got me a tie for 2nd place and some big points.

Magnus VerMagnusson was my ref on day 1. What a good time it was to have that guy calling the reps and running the stop watch. He gave me a high five for the 17 reps on DL and said "It could've been 18 too but you were greedy" Good times. Poundstone was also a ref on day 1 but not for me.

Finished day 1 in 7th spot overall

Reppin the Red and White in Columbus

2011 Arnold Recap Day 2

Day 1 takes place friday morning and we're done by 1pm. Then we have the rest of friday and all of saturday to recover etc before hitting day 2 on sunday afternoon.

Last year, I spent all of saturday at the convention centre, from 7am till 6pm as Sarah was lifting in the full power meet and then we checked out the tradeshow area.
I felt that I still had soggy legs last year on sunday so this year I spent most of friday night and all of saturday chilling in my hotel. Other than watching the Pro strongman and a bit of powerlifting, I pretty much stayed out of the convention centre.

Good decision. I felt much better this time around in the finals.


Event #1 325 Log clean and press each rep 60 sec

My goal was 4 reps, as I was able to do 4 last year on 315 in 60 sec.
Unfortunately, as things came apart, I was still greedy for 4 and ended up with only 2 reps when had I taken more time to rest between, 3 would've been very doable and gained a bigger point difference.
Slightly dissappointed.


Event #2 405lb Hussafel Carry, max distance

My plan was to win this event. I had to go 4th on this event so there was not yet a high mark set.
I stuck to the plan and things were going quite well, but I feel that I gave up a bit too early. The crowd and the announcer were both making me feel like I was way out in unbeatable territory, so when it started to slip, I just let it go. 154' and change.
I ended up in 3rd on this event as two others were able to go a bit more. 170' was the winning distance.

Im satisfied with this, but after watching more guys do it, I feel like I didn't try hard enough.


Event #3 Stones (300, 330, 360, 390, 420 to 60" 60" 54" 54" 50")
I felt pretty good about this run, all very doable for me, and the ASC stones are clean and very good.
I loaded the first 3 in decent time, the 60" platforms slowed me a bit, but the first 3 went up pretty smooth. That was all I could get. #4 came up well but I stumble back a bit as I made the high pull for the lip.
Stones, like yoke, were very dissappointing for me this time around. I feel that I am capable of better on both but was unable to deliver.

 

 

The Finalists, 1st Place Matesz Barron from Poland front and centre in white.  Grover neck, bottom left.

The whole show was a very fun show. Dione and her stafff put on the best show you could ask for. They ran a lot of guys through 4 events in about 4 hours on Friday morning. Great equipment, very fair reffing.

As always, a lot fun and I look forward to going back next year and moving up the standings a couple more spots.

 

Anyone recognize this beast?