Today I got to go train with a couple of guys who are pretty involved in the strongman circuit. One of the guys just got his pro-card and a couple of them were at nationals this year. They have having a comp next weekend so they were training with the specific stuff for the comp. It was awesome. These guys were so cool about getting new people involved. They gave me a ton of pointers, were always supportive, and just made it an amazing experience. I am hooked for now. There is another comp coming up in Feb that I am going to be training for. All the guys were really cool about me coming and using there equipment on the weekends.
Now for my mock competition totals:
Event 1: Viking Press with 225 no leg drive allowed - I got one rep. I was damn proud of that. It was a grinder. A couple lightweights there to practice got over 12.
Event 2: Hand over hand sled drag with 520 lbs - I made it the 50 feet in 22 seconds which was the best out of the lightweights there. I was damn good at this if I do say so.
Event 3: Trap Bar deadlift with 550. I got none on this but warming up I hit 390 for 2. It was brutal because I pull sumo and being inside a trap bar made me go way closer than I am used to. This one was a hard one for a lot of guys.
Event 4: Crusifix hold with axes. Not sure what these weighted but it sucked. I got 17 seconds with my arms out at parellel to the ground. A couple guys got over a minute which is crazy.
Event 5: Weighted hold for time with 550 lbs. I made 7 seconds and my grip went to hell. This was crazy and a couple guys went over a minute again. It was impressive. I need a lot more grip work.
Event 6: 50 foot medly. Started with a 200 lb keg that you had to carry 50 feet and load onto a chest high platform. Then flip a 550 lb tire back 50 feet and ending with backward dragging a 550 lb sled back 50. You have 90 seconds to finish. If you don't finish you mark the distance they dragged the sled. I made it 5 feet with the sled before time ran out. This was the single most brutal thing I have ever done. I wanted to puke when I was done. The keg wasn't bad but the tire really wore me out. All the guys were really impressed that I made it as far as I did. They said I was a natural at the tire.
Done at this point and holy crap was I tired. But I am hooked. Strongman is an amazing thing. I encourage everyone here to find some guys in your area and train with them. You won't regret it.
I will post better descriptions or pics of some of the stuff if you guys don't know what they look like at some point in the next couple days. Unless GQArtguy or someone else who knows what the stuff looks like has pics of it.
Danny
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Oh and a couple things I forgot. One, lifting with a group of strong people is amazing. I need to find a lifting partner or two. Having guys constantly cheering you on once you get tired and who are there to spot for problems is awesome. It helps a ton.
The other thing I really need to work on is confidence. I need to learn to give it my all and not psych myself out before I start a lift. Before I did the overhand drag I thought it was going to be impossible and was really mentally not there. Once the guys started pumping me up and yelling I got into it and kicked its ass. I need to be able get myself there better. Not that sure how I am going to work on that but I am going to do something.
Danny
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Limitations are for people who have them.
Danny this is great news man! I love watching this stuff, it all sounded hard to me. You did everything without ever training for strongman before right? imagine how well you can do once you train more specific to the strongman events.
Defranco has a new article on strongman training...& I'm sure Brad Cardoza & Sully will help you if you need more pointers/tips.
Good luck with this...you gonna start a strongman log?
It was awesome guys. Ikan I have never trained events. The guys really want me to get serious about it because they think I could be really good. I couple of the guys there have competed against Sully and Brad and really know there stuff so I get to get real hands on stuff which is super helpful.
Rock - All the guys are super cool and supportive. There are about 5 places over the Twin Cities that these guys all train between. The rest periods where prety long, it was really informal. Each guy went whenever they felt ready to go again. I was there for about 3 hours total but thats with some warming up and cleaning up.
One of the coolest things to see is competators cheering each other on. When some guy is about to beat your time and you are encouraging him and screaming for him to go you know there is an awesome system in place. Its really classy.
Danny
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Limitations are for people who have them.
Danny-Excellent work!Especially on the medley.Sounds like you had a great time.
I use to train sandbag and keg lifting and medleys with a couple of powerlifters and the encouragement and dares we heaped upon each other was a huge morale booster.
Good luck with the training.
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Trap bar deadlift is pretty self-explanatory. A trap is a diamond shaped bar and it has parallel hand in the inside for you to hold on to.
Medley: good desription, no need for pics.
Weighted hold: like a farmer's hold?
Man I wish I lived near you, I would definately train with you and hit it hard.
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"The strongest steel goes through the hottest fires."-Anonymous
"When you begin to believe nothing is heavy, all weights become light." -Rossbow
"Just remember, somewhere there is a little Chinese girl warming up with your max."-Jim Convroy
"It's a round hole, dammit. Everyone fits."--Anonymous Mod at Strengthmill
Danny,
Somehow when you IM'd me the morning of the training, I knew you were pumped and ready for this. Awesome results for your first time trying many of these events. You really do sound like a natural. I still have that pic of you in your back yard with a keg over your head. Now it will come in handy. LOL
GO FOR IT!
Mahler
__________________ In Fitness & Friendship, MAHLER
______________________________ __________________________ There is no light at the end of the tunnel. You carry the light with you.
Thanks for the welcome Sully. Any chance you could help me with a couple questions? If I am training events every Saturday, what would you use as a basic template for the week? I am assuming that I want to lay off weights Friday. I was thinking Monday, Tuesday, and Thursday workouts but I am not sure how to split them. Any tips you have would be awesome.
Oldguy - I am around 190 now and on my way up!
Danny
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Limitations are for people who have them.
Originally posted by DKing: Thanks for the welcome Sully. Any chance you could help me with a couple questions? If I am training events every Saturday, what would you use as a basic template for the week? I am assuming that I want to lay off weights Friday. I was thinking Monday, Tuesday, and Thursday workouts but I am not sure how to split them. Any tips you have would be awesome.
__________________
"The strongest steel goes through the hottest fires."-Anonymous
"When you begin to believe nothing is heavy, all weights become light." -Rossbow
"Just remember, somewhere there is a little Chinese girl warming up with your max."-Jim Convroy
"It's a round hole, dammit. Everyone fits."--Anonymous Mod at Strengthmill
Good luck with the strongman. If I ever got to that level, I would love to do that stuff. Mahler, I will never forget the penis lines. It has to be the greatest post in MH forum history. (Besides the watermelon guy).
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Mahler, its so true. My abs are already gone and the penis lines are hanging on for dear life. If I didn't have huge obliques they would have said goodbye a while ago too.
Nbjjku, Just keep at it. People of all strength levels can do really well in strongman. A lot of it is technique over strength or so Sully says. [img]smile.gif[/img]
Ice, its the same Sully.
Danny
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Limitations are for people who have them.
Danny,
In strongman, isn't it by weight class? So being lean and mean might be better than being stronger, but bumping classes? Or is it all about personal bests, which we all know in powerlifting, etc., means that size matters?
The weight classes for most amatuer shows are as follows:
Under 231 - lightweight
Over 231 - heavyweight
So I have some room before it matter how big I get. Plus I am too tall to stay in low weight classes. Some competitions have an under 200 category also but I would still rather be over 200.
Here is my strategy: I need to gain weight. When I am new to either strongman or powerlifting I am not going to be winning any contests. I have a lot to learn in technique work and a lot of strength I need to gain. So I eat in the way that best promotes strength gains, which is a ton of food for growth and recovery. Once I get a lot more time training and competing under my belt I will start to worry about what class I need to be in and where I would be the most competative to win. I am planning on getting into the low 200s and I doubt I will put on a ton of fat so its not a huge deal before I re-evaluate my bulk and training.
Danny
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Limitations are for people who have them.
Cool. I DO put on a ton of fat, so I'm too scared to try it (for now). Good stuff. I get so fired up reading this, I want to lift my truck again (I can't see a Search link at Men's Health, which is where I wrote about it. Basically, I put both left wheels in holes where trees had been dug out. I had been deadlifting for only twelve weeks - lifetime - when I deadlifted the truck's left side off the frame while my wife drove it out. That's MY strongman story, lol.)
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