Its log time. I kept the old one up for a while but its time for a new one.
After my last contest I have a very clear idea of where my weaknesses are and I know what I need to do to fix them.
1. Overhead strength. Finally I can press without any pain or discomfort, thank god for ART. I do need to be very careful with this and make sure I keep up on my stability/prehab work.
2. Deadlift strength. This needs major improvements if I ever plan to be a high level strongman.
3. Core strength. This has been increasingly obvious to me lately that my core strength sucks and is holding me back. I feel really unstable and weak when doing anything supporting a load. That needs to change big time. I need to spend less time in my belt also.
4. Squat strength. This is secondary as squatting doesn't come up much in strongman, but raw power is always helpful and I just want to squat big numbers. It looks fun.
So these are the 4 main goals I will be focusing on, along with staying injury free, healthy, and swole as hell.
My next contest is 8 weeks away. So two 4 week cycles will bring me right where I need to be.
I am also addressing my one other weakness, and this is something that has held me back for a long time, and that is planning and orgainzing my training. I am just too scattered. I have a tendacy to jump around too much. That won't happen this time. I have a plan and I am sticking with it. I won't fail.
Week 1 (this week) - High volume
Week 2 - medium volume
Week 3 - Very high volume
Week 4 - Low volume/deload
Week 5 - High volume
Week 6 - Medium volume
Week 7 - Very high volume
Week 8 - Medium volume
Week 9 - Off/deload
Compete in Chicago
The weekly plan looks like this:
Monday: Dynamic effort lower body
Tuesday: Core/regeneration work
Wednesday: Dynamic effort upperbody
Thursday: Max effort Lowerbody
Friday: Core/regeneration work
Saturday: Max effort Upper/Strongman events
Sunday: Off/regeneration work
Its time to get started, first workout is in 3 hours.
Danny, will be watching your progress with keen interest. You have the plan; now you just have to execute it. Which you'll do in spades, no question. *big cyber high five* Do it!
LD - I definatly forgot to mention that part, but its quite high on my list of goals. The philosophy is EAT! I weighed in at a pathetic 187 lbs which is down a bit from where I was about about 10-15 lbs off of what I should be to best perform. I really want to weigh in at about 197 in Chicago, so I have to gain about 10 lbs. I broke out Gourmet Nutrition and hit the grocery store last night, so I am set.
It was really cold in the gym today and I am still a bit stiff from the weekend but it was a good day anyway. Didn't quite have the explosion off the box I would have liked, but it will come.
A) Box Squats - 1 inch below parallel
10x2 205 lbs
B) Good Mornings w/medium stance
5x5 225 - this needs to go up in weight but I haven't done these much in a while so the form wasn't clicking until the last set or two.
So Dr. Folske got you all fixed up? I was just thinking the other day about how glad I was that he was able to fix my shoulder.
I don't know if you keep up with the articles at EliteFTS, but there are a couple of newer ones about strongman training. dynamic effort article , max effort article
Nothing too ground breaking, but good nonetheless.
Looks good danny,if you wanna get the weight on i heard some of the westside guys say they drink a gallon of milk a day to gain some pounds,this is a little extreme but it could work if you didnt mind putting on a little fat,10lbs aint that much dude you can do it!I am also trying to bulk up a little,i am 230lbs now i need up to 245lbs as this is my target.
Just a question what is your 1 rep max for all the lifts,squat deads and bench??
Nice to see you are getting the good mornings in,i find this movement excellent and it is especailly good if you fall forward a little in the squat really gets you tight in the squat after a couple of months.
I must say this danny i eventually got the 500lb squat i wanted the other day i was really happy!stay strong dude!Good luck the plan looks cool
Danny,
Your views are really going to skyrocket because I am going to be watching with interest. You have inspired me from the very beginning. Seeing your plan and your execution will be a real trip for me. All the best in the quest.
Wow, I have really gotten a ton of hits on this log. I have a lot of presure now not to let you guys down. But it is going to be quite fun to watch because I plan to absolutly destroy my old numbers.
BritishBulldog - I actually drink a big ass shake everyday with 1 cup regular milk, 1 cup choc. milk, two scoops of ice cream and 2 scoops protein powder. I really need to do things like that to gain any damn weight.
As for numbers, my best full squat is 365 for a double and I have hit a 405 lb parallel box squat. My best deadlift is either 465 or 470, can't remember and I have no idea on bench press but my best jerk is 240 lbs. These should be changing soon.
A) Seated dumbbell overhead press w/mini band
4x6 20,20,25,25
B) 3 board press
5x3 185,185,185,190,190
Wow I suck at pressing! No pain or discomfort at all today though so that rules.
Wednesdays are actually going to be two-a-days. Its just one workout, but the volume is cut between two sessions. I do this because I wan't the boards and bands that are at one place, and the cables and such at the other place. It also works much better with my schedule this way.
Danny, how do you press? I notice that most people press with the elbows flared out to the sides and go directly up. This sucks for a few reasons:
1) Its not very applicable to SM or OL, where we have to press with the elbows in front
2) Its not efficient because if we press straight up, we usually will miss a lift in the front because there is a slight angle in the arms due to flaring. WE should press up and back in a j motion so that the arms can be directly overhead
3)Its very unstable for the shoulder to be in that position. Since you and I need a strong OH press, we need to cut the fluff from OH work and hit movements that spare this area a bit.
I have a pretty good tuck and arch when I press. I get a decent amount of leg drive too. I workout with a bench specialist and a former bench specialist turned 3 lift guy so if my form sucks they both let me know. I know more about bench form than I have ever wanted.
The main reason my press sucks is that I haven't trained it in so long. I have had so many shoulder issues that I haven't been able to handle anything heavy for far too long.
Three board is also a terrible position for me. I am used to either being able to get leg drive out of an OH press or at least get some speed going off my chest but right at three board level my triceps have to do most of the work and they are my weakest link, by far. That is also why I am doing them.
Danny- I've not ever "talked" much with you, but I just wanted to stop by and say I've got mine and am going to sit back and enjoy the show. Best of luck, you strong SOB!
Good luck dude. Crush your numbers so you can motivate me to do the same. I'll be checkin this out to get ideas and to watch your progress. Kick some @$$ dude.
I was slightly questioning the "high volume" of your workout Monday, but thout I would see what was next to come since it was so soon after your contest. Then until I read that you were doing two-a-days I thought thta you had lost your mind! But now it is looking like a "high volume" week. That is a good amount of core work, I imagine that it did have a kick.
Glad to hear that your shoulder is currently pain free. How do you run the band for the seated overhead presses?
To add weight to the seated cable rows, can you hang a plate on the pin in the stack, I see that commonly at my gym.
Everything looks solid, I am glad I preordered my tickets!
Yeah Buk I should have specified that its a high volume week, not just day. Next week is only medium volume so everything will drop a bit.
The two-a-day isn't too bad. Its about the same volume I would normally do in one session just between two. I can give each a bit more intensity and I have the equipment I need for each at different gyms.
For the seated overheads I just use one band and run it under my body as I sit and have each end in my hands.
A) 15" Box Squats - I used a higher box today because two sessions of low box work a week would destroy my hips, at least right now it would.
225x3x2 sets
275x1x2 sets
315x1
335x1
365x1
385x0
335x1x2
I was pleased with this, would like to have hit the 385, but that would be an all time best and after not doing much box squatting for a couple months I wasn't expecting much.
B) Snatch Grip Deadlifts on 1 mat
4x6 245 holy hell these suck for reps! Used straps on these just so I didn't have to worry and to take a bit of pressure off my forearms.
C) 1 leg romanian deadlifts
2x8 30 - should have done another set but I was tired as hell.
I actually sit. I keep everything tight, but I fully sit for a second before coming back up.
Some people will do things like touch a box just to make sure they are hitting depth, but to get the full benifit of a box squat you want to pause slightly.
I did some snatch grip deads the other day and completly agree, they do suck. Mine was lighter, but for 12 reps and my pinkies to collars grip forced me to a deep range of motion.
That is an impressive amount that you are moving on the box squats, keep it up - you will dominate Chicago!
A) Tire flip/Duck walk medley - this is a fun way to warm up
2 sets of 40 feet each. 300 lb duck walk and 630 tire
B) 8" Log clean and press
170x3
180 - clean and press every rep for 60 seconds - I did 4 reps and was gassed. I would like to be stronger but I am okay with being there for now. Form felt great and no shoulder problems at all!
C) Harness Sled Pull
somewhere between 5-8 trips with 550-800 lbs. This was fun
That was it today but it was a pretty good day overall. No one was really feeling into it and we were all kind of dragging. I couldn't get warmed up to save my life, I was stiff all the way until half way through my drags. Still felt good though.
Dang that strongman stuff looks fun. The most I'm looking to do right now is push some cars around in the parking lot across the street. [img]/images/graemlins/tongue.gif[/img] Work my way up in size.
Got your tickets...?
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