You Better, You Better, You Bet.

[lehman906]

5/12

Not a lot of pop today, as evidenced by the struggle with 225, but I should be getting a lot more practice with 80-85% anyway. Practiced cleans and dip and drive instead and got some practice with lighter weights. Followed up with some 1 1/4 fro t squats and some plank chins. NOT looking forward to being at school until 8 tomorrow to do 5-6 actual parent-teacher conferences.

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[lehman906]

5/15
34 degrees with hail in our eyes....mindset training! How bad do you want it?! I AM THE STORM.

Okay, it was a pleasant 58 degree summer shower, and I’m a low pressure front at most. Whatever. Turns out taking far fewer runs with the yoke on the way up is not only contest specific practice, but a good idea to avoid extra fatigue. General warmup, two quick runs with 225, two picks at contest weight and go.

465x3x60’

Log clean and press each rep
190x1x15

Sandbag carry and load over yoke
160x70’x6

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EDIT: looks like last week’s pull ups got in there too. Whoops. Enjoy my hanging planks.

EDIT 2: WHY WONT IT PLAY?

EDIT 3: Everything is stupid.
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[lehman906]

5/17

Small Monday workout. You do what you can because you love it even if you feel sick, or exhausted, or broken.

Light Press complex
1 1/4 tempo front squats
Sandbag picks and carries
And a set of pull ups just because.

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[lehman906]

5/19
Sometimes you have to do things you don’t want to do. I’m very lucky to have some really amazing people in my life to help me. People that always have my back. Anyway, I probably sound pretty ridiculous right now, but hey, I am Ridiculous. Always.

Log press
225 went up easier than last week, but 235 wouldn’t go. I need to master 225 and make the rack feel strong and stable. Did back offs with 195 and played around with the split jerk at 145.

Beltless Front squats with heels on plates. Slow descent and fast ascent. Not too speedy.
195x2x6

Ab stuff.

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[Wilhelm]

5/19
Sometimes you have to do things you don’t want to do. I’m very lucky to have some really amazing people in my life to help me. People that always have my back. Anyway, I probably sound pretty ridiculous right now, but hey, I am Ridiculous. Always.

Log press
225 went up easier than last week, but 235 wouldn’t go. I need to master 225 and make the rack feel strong and stable. Did back offs with 195 and played around with the split jerk at 145.

Beltless Front squats with heels on plates. Slow descent and fast ascent. Not too speedy.
195x2x6

Ab stuff.

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I do not find you deserving of ridicule.
Perhaps if i got to know you better though.

Great work over time here.

[lehman906]

Haha, thanks @Wilhelm. I’m more ridiculous with certain people than with others. I’m pretty okay with that.

[lehman906]

5/22
Somehow last night my lower back started feeling that familiar deep ache/feel like it’s gonna go out feeling I’ve had off and on for years. No precipitating event, nothing more strenuous than carrying some tables and chairs for a school cookout, but there it is. Add that to my pec tweak and shoulder wonkiness (sorry for all the medical jargon) and I could barely move without pain this morning. I took the dog on a long walk, did some light stretching, and kept moving and cleaning the house as much as I could, and between that and 800mg of ibuprofen, figured I’d see if I could train. Nope. Nothing felt good or safe, so live to fight another day. In years past I would have pushed through and then fucked up my training for the next month. Hopefully being smart will have me right as rain a couple of days. I moved around and did things that didn’t hurt: super light high rep pressing, chins, and band stuff. I feel better than I did this morning, so now I’ll go mow the lawn shirtless and give the neighbors a pasty show.

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[lehman906]

5/26

So the last eighteen months have been a pandemic sandwich with parental deaths as the bread. This sucks so much. I’m tired of talking about it and writing about it, though. I’m working and lifting and keeping to my routine because apparently I’m Midwestern down to the molecular level.

Stayed light today because of my lower back that I retweaked apparently by being 46?

Log press (being careful AF on the clean)
Up to 215x1
165x6,6,6,6

Front squat w/slow controlled negative, being REAL mindful of my bracing.
205x1x10

Facepulls
3 sets until my rear delts literally caught fire.

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[lehman906]

5/31
I’m being smart and not doing any real training so that I heal up and can come back to it sooner, but that’s so hard (thatswhatshesaid). I’ve had my back and glutes dry needled once and will probably get them done again today so hopefully Wed can be a normal training day. I really hope so, since I’m heading home to help with arrangements on Thursday amd won’t be training this weekend.

The plan for today was to do movements I can do and get a pump before heading to the pool, but I just can’t get up for circuits of pump-monkey bullshit. I don’t have it in me. I managed to do some ab and glute stuff, which is what I SHOULD be doing anyway. Fuck aesthetics, do what’s going to help me perform better in July 3 and what may help keep this back thing from happening again. I’ve been eating and drinking my feelings, so aesthetics is a bit of a moot point right now anyway. Dinner at a cookout last night was two cheeseburgers, a brat, cheesy potatoes, 5 cookies, a bunch of chips, some rice Kristine treats, three vodkas, and a hard cider. And some fruit.

I’ll get in and do some laps anyway because swimming would be good for me right now, but this isn’t how I hoped to look when it opened up. Damn, I’m shallower than the right side of the pool. Probably just focusing on this because it’s easier than thinking about being an elderly orphan. I did manage to cry last night because of a touching scene in an episode of hoarders, of all things! That was a bit of a sneak attack, but anything that gets it to come out is welcome.

This is not really training stuff. Oh well. This isn’t the training log you’re looking for. Move along. *waves hand Obi Wanly*

EDIT: pro-tip-if you haven’t swam in a year, maybe don’t jump into an ice-cold, broken-heater pool and sprint full-out against a competitive swimmer with no warm up whatsoever. Although I can still edge out a 12 year old AND I didn’t have a heart attack, so that’s good.

[lehman906]

6/2
It’s almost as if there’s something to being smart and patient. Good log pressing session tonight. Worked up slowly to a conservative 210 with no pain. Followed it up with 170 for 5x5. Points to remember: finish the drive on the toes and throw it as hard as I can, not as hard as I think I need to. There should only be a pressout if absolutely necessary. Followed this with a set of super light split jerks that really highlight my lack of athleticism.

Some front squats after that.

Oh, and abs and glutes. Gotta build a peach, right?

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[lehman906]

6/5
Back felt good this morning so I thought I could get some pulling in, which sounded waaaay more appealing than just doing machine circuits. Stopped at an easy 405x3 and did three back-off sets of 8 on SGDL. Followed that with some different pull ups and some single-leg RDL’s to get glute work out of the way, and called it a day.
Some Mexican food and memorial planning, then hopefully drinks and a hot tub with friends tonight. I went into my Mom’s room for the first time this morning, and that was pretty rough. I could use a fun night.
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[lehman906]

6/7
After an emotionally intense weekend it was good to get in a good, pain-free (of sweaty) workout. Everything felt nice and light. 50 total push jerks with light weight supersetted with 100 total reps of face pulls. Then tempo belt squats supersetted with pull aparts. It was a touch humid.

EDIT: this link should actually have my facepulls in it instead of black screen. Wevideo can eat a big ol’ dick.

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[lehman906]

6/9 (nice)

Good day on the log press. Somewhat casual 220. Not completely pain-free, but negligible. I’ve been respecting this lift too much and holding it too long in the rack looking for the perfect position. Stop over-analyzing and just lift the damn thing. Get it up and throw it. Trust yourself.

55, 105x3
120x2
150,170,190,210x1
220x1 @howboutthat

180x4,4,4,4,4,4

Facepulls
Some x 4 billion

Meadows swings
45s x burn

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[lehman906]

6/13

Good session today. Went in wondering how my back/shoulder/ankle would hold up and everything was okay.

Yoke: apparently the key is to not do it almost ever, because 500 (shown in video) was slow, but stable and not that heavy.

Log press: need to get in better shape. Lots more conditioning in the next three weeks. Todd missed my first rep, but I failed on rep 5 in a minute with contest weight. It was after doing 10 total reps before, but it’s going to be the fourth event, soooo.

Sandbag to shoulder: this went very well, but it’s only 150 instead of the 200 in the contest. I can get a lot of practice in like this, though. 14 total reps.

My crazy brain kicks in watching this video and all I see is alcohol and sodium bloat from wedding celebration yesterday as compared to the end of the video from a few days ago. Reminding myself that my body changes from day to day and my perception of it even more often, and other people probably don’t notice. And the ones that really matter don’t care and have a much more favorable opinion anyway. Putting up the firewall against the negative thoughts.

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[lehman906]

6/14-15
Getting down to crunch time. Not a lot of training time left, so maximizing what I can and trying to be in the best condition I can be.

Monday I did abs, glutes, and some light push ups in the morning, then went for a slooooow 500 yard swim in the afternoon.

Tuesday Todd and I went full CrossFat and did a combination prowler/sandbag carry workout. 7x with both, 4x with just the prowler, and 3x with just sandbag. Legs got a ton of work, and my glutes were toast from keeping my body straight during the carry (#sorepeach)

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On Wednesday it was all about slangin’ a big log. Contest prep: 1:00 AMRAPS w/190 with 10-12 min rest in between. I’m strong enough for 6-7 reps, but need to be in better shape. This is the third set. Followed with two sets of strict press with 120 and some cable back work.

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[lehman906]

6/22

Three event medley done at 65-75% of contest weight. 4 rounds total? Maybe 5? Shit. I got one more than I thought I would because my support crew brings out the inner caveman. Anyway, it’s basically doing 12-15 runs in 15 min and even walking between implements it’s a killer. The weights are so light that my muscles don’t feel taxed at all, but my lungs are burning. Gotta definitely keep doing these.

315 yoke x 60’
150 sandbag x 60’
160 farmers x 60’

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[lehman906]

6/28.
I just saw a memory on FB from the Summerfest Strongman in 2013. In it I pledged to work on my conditioning and work capacity to improve my game. It only took 8 years for me to follow through, but I have never felt in better shape or better prepared for a contest.

As part of the taper for contest week, we kept the medley weights the same and halved the distance. More practice with less total stress. We did bump the sandbag weight to 175 so the 200 won’t be such a shock.

Forced relaxing today between driving my kids to 6 things and an unplanned trip to the dr for their ear infection.

Yoke 315
Sandbag 175
Farmers 175

Finished up with a quick :20 hold with 215 just to feel something a little heavier. I’m fighting off the Dad Bod but won’t give up the Dad Hat.

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[lehman906]

6/30
Last workout before Monona. Keeping it light and snappy but getting a little conditioning in. I’ve taken a week off before comps before and it usually didn’t work out for me. I’ve been discovering that being taught by giants had one drawback in that their techniques and strategies are not always optimal for us little guys.

Spent a bunch of time tractioning my shoulder, doing pull aparts and stretching, then just light log.

170x1,1,1
140x2x8 EMOM

Coming in hungry.

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[lehman906]

7/3 Monsters in Monona

It didn’t go as well as planned, but there are some parts I’m proud of. Most importantly, though, I hope that my training partner’s knee isn’t as badly injured as it appeared. It gave out on the last event and paramedics took him to the hospital. We won’t know what the full extent is until he sees an ortho.

Weighed in at 198, tied for lightest guy on the masters. Almost 47 years old, which put me in the middle for age. Had a lot of support and great inspiration to start my day, though.

Event 1: 565 Yoke/200 sandbag load. 60’

This was a wake up call. I trained yoke and sandbag a lot, but at mostly lighter weights to get in more practice and specific conditioning. The 565 was difficult, although when you put down a yoke like that and sprint back to the bag you feel faster than you’ve ever felt in your life. The pick wasn’t bad, and neither was the carry, but like a lot of guys, getting it over the bar was damned hard. In hindsight, I should have dropped it, repicked and shouldered it, and loaded it that way. Very frustrating. Furthermore, despite the conditioning work, I was wiped out for over 20 min. Hardest event I’ve ever done. My wife was very worried about my heart rate, and how white I went, but I did manage to recover. Not an auspicious beginning. Score was 120’; no time since I failed the load. 5th/6 in masters.

Event 2-450 Axle DL for reps in 1:00

I was feeling mostly okay by the time this rolled around. I saw the jacked guy before me get 4 and then celebrate. He was weird, he always looked like he had a couple more reps than would stop and yell. I thought I could probably get five, and with a sweet hitch at the end, I did. That felt better. 4th.

Event 3-190 log clean and press in 1:00

My favorite event, and one I have put the most time into, but after the last two, I wasn’t sure how it was going to go. The best I’ve ever done was 6 in the gym, and that was pretty fresh. I practiced pressing outside, but Staring into the sun is a whole different thing. Despite that, it went okay, I got 5 reps but one was no counted for not waiting for the down command. That was frustrating because I’ve never made that mistake before. Double frustrating because I would have been part of a four way tie at 5 reps and gotten 2 more points. Between that and the load miscue, probably cost myself four points. However, the bright side is that I got 5 while pretty depleted. 2nd place behind the tie. 2 guys couldn’t get a rep. I think one withdrew and one had arthritis and couldn’t press.

Event 4-240 farmers hold

I felt pretty good going into this until I saw guys getting 1:00. I knew I wouldn’t be able to hang with that. The pick was fine and when I stood up I told the judge to tell me a story to distract me. He told me about a mutual friend who told everyone at a comp he weighed 255 when he weighed 279. 35 seconds. Third.

Final event-200 sandbag to shoulder in 1:00

I had trained a lot with a 150 and some with a 175, but not at all with a 200, and hadn’t done a lot of shouldering. My training has been rather hit and miss the last month with my Dad’s passing, trips back home for the service and to try and get affairs in order and such, and something was gonna get less time. It was this and deadlifting, because I knew that would still be there. Wasn’t sure if I would get anything, but the first pick went well and got it up to my shoulder. Once I got one out of the way I felt better. I got four reps and was happy about it. Todd was struggling and went down trying for his second rep. They got him in the ambulance and we helped his wife get all of his stuff gathered. He was in as good of spirits as possible. I really hope it’s not as serious as it appeared.

Overall, I’m frustrated with mistakes and that my conditioning still wasn’t good enough. My wife, a PT, wants me to talk to a cardiologist because of how long it took me to recover from the first event and how awful I looked for a while. Probably over cautious, but considering my Dad’s sudden heart attack, and me having a few little irregularities, it wouldn’t hurt. Better over-cautious. I’m happy with my log press, deadlift and sandbag, and just the fact that I finished. I know I’m capable of a better performance, but I wasn’t on this day, and comp day is all that matters. Everything else is what if. Todd and I don’t have any other comps planned, but have goals of a 250 log, and then just getting in better overall shape. Looks like I’ll be doing that on my own, although if he wants, I’ll still go over to his place to train and hopefully help him with his rehab.

So tired. Weirdly, what hurts the most are my fingers from accidentally bashing them against a picnic table when I was trying to throw an apple core into the weeds. The apple core hit my wife instead. #athletic

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[Wilhelm]

Grueling looking day, makes me glad i just have 9 singles on meet day.
Congratulations \o/

Hope your friend's knee isn't too bad.