IRON & STONE: Adventures of an Amateur Strongman

[mouse]

10/5/2018

Deadlift - 500x3x5 (should have been 500x3x4 but I guess I got carried away, they were moving super nice...)

Pin Press - 210x4x5 (like warm ups lolz)

Chins/Rows - BWx3/235x3x7 EMOM, 235x5x3 (chins got sloppy so I nixed em cuz)

[mouse]

10/8/2018

Squat - 415x3@9, 395x3@9, 385x3@9, 385x3@10

Paused Squat - 315x5

CGB - 275x6x4

Chins - 10/11/7

What a shitshow on those squats. I've been compromising my grip (wide) because of this damned shoulder pain and it's completely throwing off my upper back. It's compounded by leftover soreness in the quads/adductors from last week and I have like half my drive out of the bottom. Forced my grip in to normal width at 385 but by then it was just too damned late.

Paused squats were to determine if the adductor thing was just soreness or an injury, no "pain" in the bottom so I'm good... just gotta get them used to doing work again I guess...

At this rate I'm gonna pull 200 pounds more than I squat at USSF lol

Everything else went just dandy.

[mouse]

10/9/2018

Press - 242.5x0 / 205x4x2 / 190x5x3

15" Deadlift - 500x4x4

Front Squat - 275x3/255x5x2

Ok yeah so what have we learned from all this? Hitting the ground running pretty much where you left off before a taper and almost a week off is apparently not a very good idea... rough week so far lol...

[mouse]

10/11/2018

Bench - 305x3x5

Squat - 365x5x4 (could been better, but... improved)

Comp Press - 205/215/225

Strict Press - 177.5x4x4

[mouse]

10/12/2018

Deadlift - 505x3x4 (felt fine, back looked like hot dog shit)

Pin Press - 215x4x5

Viper Press - 155x3x10 EMOM

[mouse]

10/15/2018

Squat - 385@7, 405@8, 435@9 / 385x3x3

(hoping for 455 to be the @9... 405 probably was lower than a true @8, poverty squat comin to MD lol)

Chins/Rows (stricter er) - BWx3 / 245x3x5 EMOM

Airdyne - 15/15x10 (sweet merciful Christ what have I done)

[mouse]

10/16/2018

Press - 210/220/230x1 / 205x3x3

13" Deadlift - 555@7, 575@8, 600@9 / 505x3x3

[lehman906]

I literally just figured out that you’re that guy on Instagram whose post I just liked. I has the dum.

[mouse]

I literally just figured out that you’re that guy on Instagram whose post I just liked. I has the dum.

Shit... cover's blown... lol...

[mouse]

10/18/2018

Bench - 315x3x3

Squat - 405x1@7/435x1x3@8/365x2x5

[mouse]

10/19/2018

Deadlift - 525@7/555@8/575@9/485x2x3

Comp Press - 215/225/235

Press - 210x3x3

[hector]

10/12/2018

Deadlift - 505x3x4 (felt fine, back looked like hot dog shit)

Pin Press - 215x4x5

Viper Press - 155x3x10 EMOM

WHen you say your back looked bad, do you mean lower back rounded?

[mouse]

10/12/2018

Deadlift - 505x3x4 (felt fine, back looked like hot dog shit)

Pin Press - 215x4x5

Viper Press - 155x3x10 EMOM

WHen you say your back looked bad, do you mean lower back rounded?

In general my back is always kinda rounded, but yeah if I note it somewhere it usually just means I did a crap job and it looked worse (more rounded) than normal...

[mouse]

10/22/2018

Squat - 435@8 / 365x2x3 (finally, some technically sound squats)

Press - 235@8 /205x2x3

Aaaaaaaand I have fuckin poison ivy on my left arm.

Son of a bitch. Something. Every meet. It's something.

[mouse]

10/23/2018

Deadlift - 525x1 / 525x1 Sumo (lolz how people do this?)

Bench - 375x1 (PR)

Just supposed to hit a heavy warm up rep, pulled it sumo after conventional for kicks, and was instructed to hit a max bench just because... I'll take a 10 lb PR sure why not...

[mouse]

10/24/2018

Press - 210x1 / 195x2x3

Squat - 385x1 / 365x1x5

[mouse]

Write up time...

USSF Fall Classic 2018
Westminster, MD - Westminster Strength & Conditioning
October 27, 2018
1st - Open 110kg

Squat - 193/202/211

Not really a ton to say here other than I was happy with all of these and squatted more than I thought I might. Third was still 10lbs shy of my heaviest squat, but they had been problematic the last few weeks and I was being cautious (more on this later).



Press - 105/110/-114

The more I've thought about these the more unhappy I become with them. Warm ups were solid feeling, and it all seemed to fall apart on the platform. 105kg felt way heavier/slower than expected, 110 felt better, but still twisted on me, and then 114 was a complete shitshow lol. Fell apart before it started as soon as I lost that little bit of air. 110 was still a small PR... and 15kg more than anyone else in Open 110 pressed, so I can't bitch TOO much... but still... I should have had more...



Deadlift - 242/262/276

Ah yes... my single favorite and most hated moment of the day in retrospect. I completely screwed up just by being ignorant of what was going on around me, and of what I needed to do. I won my weight class with the 262, by a LOT. I didn't know that, and once again decided to be "safe" and took an easy looking 276, which at the time I was very happy with. Lots left in the tank. What I know now is that the 3rd USSF Record for the 110's is 277... and it was mine to smash if I had known it was there... I will be keeping an eye on it throughout the year, and hopefully nobody else gets there before me... I won't lie I am super bummed about this today though...



Update:
I just got done reading the results and I wish I hadn’t because I’m absolutely filled with regret now. I didn’t realize I won the squat for 110’s by 1kg. I didn’t realize I secured #1 on the press with my opener. I didn’t realize that I had won the entire weight class with my opening deadlift. I have zero excuse for why I didn’t know these things. I lifted AFTER all the other 110’s. I could have checked my weight early on the scale to know for sure I was in the 110’s. I should have been watching more of the attempts and looking at the scores. I could have theoretically won the class with my opener, broken the record with my second attempt easily, and then possibly smashed the newly broken record again with my third.
This has been way more of a learning experience than I expected it to be. Trying really hard to focus on the fun I had and that I did absolutely dominate that meet, but right now all I can think about is the missed opportunities and regrets of not pushing my potential…

Full results:

http://results.usstrengthlifting.com/me ... assic.html

[ChrisMcCarthy1979]

Good effort at the Meet...try not to be harsh on yourself - you won't do that again so lesson learned...

[mouse]

Good effort at the Meet...try not to be harsh on yourself - you won't do that again so lesson learned...

Oh no, never again lol

[mouse]

10/29/2018

Squat - 225x8x3

Press - 135xI dunno some reps

Airbike - Just long enough to make me question why I did it...

Wasn't really training, more or less doing some preventative maintenance because I still have PTSD (not that I would allow myself to get it) from last month when I took a few days off post-meet and somehow developed horrible leg aids from squatting. The press was more or less playing with grip adjustments to compensate for my two different arm lengths which was immediately pointed out to me Saturday. I have a feeling I've been leaving numbers out there because of it...

Next 8 weeks will look slightly different. Some Westside-ish stuff, 3-day HLM, and maybe... if things go right (i.e. I don't eat an entire pie every day) some weight loss. The 3-day is a training/life balance necessity because in 2-weeks my weekends will be mostly spent in the woods hunting, and I need time for that as well as not completely abandoning my wife and children for either weights or whitetails...

The weight loss (if I can do it right) is because I'm eyeing NAS Grand Fortitude in March, but want to compete sub-231, as most of my 2019 and beyond will be USS where it puts me in a better position (I think) to coast for a while or gain some back as I work up towards filling out 242 again...