I know in my last post I said I was done for the year, well I am the decision to do one more this year, and this is a heavy ass one. I will more than likely come in last place, but with that said in no way am I going into it thinking that. I won't win, I know that. Ontario's Strongest man, Paul V., is competing and he is a damn machine. I won't beat him. I will though, give it all hell and make people go "DAMN!"
So in prep. I went and trained with a buddy who is damn stronger than me, but with his encouragement and just training with him I went from worried about the events to confident. I nailed some good Atlas stone work, moved a Yoke close to the contest weight (which at 900 lbs, 50 lbs doesn't make a huge difference) and I may not do so well on the log, but I'll at least be able to give it a damn good shot. The other two events I am not too worried about, I can pull heavy and am decent at the truck pull.
I'll have a full write up of the contest after I do it, unless it kills me... then well... shit.
Monday 26 September 2011
Monday 19 September 2011
Last competition of the year and looking forward
Just for the record, I hate making weight. I just hate it. I know i am able to very easily as I am basically at 275 and have been for a long time but I tried out the whole sauna and dehydration thing and did it ever suck ass.
So this weekend was my last competition of the year, and it being a powerlifting meet, it was a good end. I started with a powerlifting one back in February and ended here.
Leading up to the meet I knew I was sitting right at the cusp of 275 so I decided that I needed to make sure I met the weight class, so I did a dry cut, basically made sure not to drink much liquid after guzzling it down the days before. Friday I stopped fluids and tried to sleep, it was shitty. I was cramping and coughing from a cold. Wake up saturday hating life and hit the sauna. this was to test my tolerance as I already was under 275 in the morning. I was only able to last three 20 minutes sessions before wanting to kill all humans and consume their flesh. Oh, and drink their blood to rehydrate. Plus the cold wasn't helping.
I made my way over to the meet area for weigh ins after saturday's lifting, not happy to wait for three hours, but fuck I had little other choices. once my grumpy dance was over it was time to rehydrate. Slam back four Costco brand gaterades and some water. Also ate some apples and some carbs to refeed, cramps in abs not going away... apparently I strained my abs golfing, who the fuck does that? me it appears. Fuck it, it's food time.
My dinner in a few hours was at a Brazilian Rodizio. anyone who doesn't know what that is, it's a Brazilian steakhouse where they give you as much yummy meat as you can handle. It was a mutha fuckin' feast of meat! I kept from over doing it, but damn it was good. I was good to go the next day.
Sunday comes I make my way over to the meet, abs a bit better but still a cold. I was not going to let it affect me. I had my lifts planned and I stuck to them. While warming up for squats my quads were bugging me and feeling sore. It didn't seem to be a problem though as my squats seemed fine. I get ready go up for my opener and after I unrack it hits me, I didn't close the lever on my belt. I said 'fuck it' in my head and go for it, 185 KG flies up. I laugh at it and get ready for my second attempt. 200 kg on the bar, the walk out feels good, heavy but good. I got a red light on the first attempt so I made sure to bury this one. Had to fight it up after a sticking point but no collapse of the upper back. Good for three whites. Third attempt was 210 kg, just wasn't there today.
Next was bench. during warm ups my shoulders were bugging me and the weight were feeling heavy, balls. Sucked it up and stuck with the plan, opened at a low 110 kg, and smoked it. Felt good actually, so went with 120 kg next. It was a bit of a fight but it went up. Attempted 125 kg last but again, didn't go. I was cramping a lot when setting up for the bench and that threw me off a bit, but I went through it and knew I wasn't going to hit anything huge today.
Last was the deadlifts. The day was starting to get to me, felt a bit drained but ready to pull something big. Warming up the pulls felt good, nothing was heavy or hard. Went out to pull 210 kg as my opener and it flew up. Felt really good, stuck to the plan and went for 230 kg. Stepped in and muscled it out, three whites. By now I had beaten my law meet total of 45 kg. Pretty good improvement in just seven months. My third attempt was 236 kg as it would have been a national record, but not pull.
Overall a good day, did the sickness screw me up? could I have done better at 100%, who knows. I won't make excuses, I did my best and came out with a total that was 45 kg over my last meet. It's time now to go back, find where I need to work on and just build more strength and speed for next year. I'm too beaten up to compete again any time soon, so I shall relax a bit.
So this weekend was my last competition of the year, and it being a powerlifting meet, it was a good end. I started with a powerlifting one back in February and ended here.
Leading up to the meet I knew I was sitting right at the cusp of 275 so I decided that I needed to make sure I met the weight class, so I did a dry cut, basically made sure not to drink much liquid after guzzling it down the days before. Friday I stopped fluids and tried to sleep, it was shitty. I was cramping and coughing from a cold. Wake up saturday hating life and hit the sauna. this was to test my tolerance as I already was under 275 in the morning. I was only able to last three 20 minutes sessions before wanting to kill all humans and consume their flesh. Oh, and drink their blood to rehydrate. Plus the cold wasn't helping.
I made my way over to the meet area for weigh ins after saturday's lifting, not happy to wait for three hours, but fuck I had little other choices. once my grumpy dance was over it was time to rehydrate. Slam back four Costco brand gaterades and some water. Also ate some apples and some carbs to refeed, cramps in abs not going away... apparently I strained my abs golfing, who the fuck does that? me it appears. Fuck it, it's food time.
My dinner in a few hours was at a Brazilian Rodizio. anyone who doesn't know what that is, it's a Brazilian steakhouse where they give you as much yummy meat as you can handle. It was a mutha fuckin' feast of meat! I kept from over doing it, but damn it was good. I was good to go the next day.
Sunday comes I make my way over to the meet, abs a bit better but still a cold. I was not going to let it affect me. I had my lifts planned and I stuck to them. While warming up for squats my quads were bugging me and feeling sore. It didn't seem to be a problem though as my squats seemed fine. I get ready go up for my opener and after I unrack it hits me, I didn't close the lever on my belt. I said 'fuck it' in my head and go for it, 185 KG flies up. I laugh at it and get ready for my second attempt. 200 kg on the bar, the walk out feels good, heavy but good. I got a red light on the first attempt so I made sure to bury this one. Had to fight it up after a sticking point but no collapse of the upper back. Good for three whites. Third attempt was 210 kg, just wasn't there today.
Next was bench. during warm ups my shoulders were bugging me and the weight were feeling heavy, balls. Sucked it up and stuck with the plan, opened at a low 110 kg, and smoked it. Felt good actually, so went with 120 kg next. It was a bit of a fight but it went up. Attempted 125 kg last but again, didn't go. I was cramping a lot when setting up for the bench and that threw me off a bit, but I went through it and knew I wasn't going to hit anything huge today.
Last was the deadlifts. The day was starting to get to me, felt a bit drained but ready to pull something big. Warming up the pulls felt good, nothing was heavy or hard. Went out to pull 210 kg as my opener and it flew up. Felt really good, stuck to the plan and went for 230 kg. Stepped in and muscled it out, three whites. By now I had beaten my law meet total of 45 kg. Pretty good improvement in just seven months. My third attempt was 236 kg as it would have been a national record, but not pull.
Overall a good day, did the sickness screw me up? could I have done better at 100%, who knows. I won't make excuses, I did my best and came out with a total that was 45 kg over my last meet. It's time now to go back, find where I need to work on and just build more strength and speed for next year. I'm too beaten up to compete again any time soon, so I shall relax a bit.
Monday 12 September 2011
One step closer to the big dance
That is one more step closer to competing at Ontario's Strongest man. That is my goal for next year, I''m shooing high.
So This weekend was the Law enforcement and fire games in Belleville, the strongman event. Leading up to the event I was feeling strong but also a bit nervous as I had let my strongman stuff take a backseat to powerlifting. I pack up, drive down, and get my shit in order.
It was a good day to have it. It was nice and warm, sunny, and no big winds. The venue was good, a nice big parking lot with a park behind it, unfortunately the crowd was small. I didn't care, I was there to prove that I am an up and comer, along with some others there.
First event was the truck pull, 20,000 pound fire truck using a harness and rope. For me, I was not concerned at all with this event. I am strong in my legs and have been doing heavy prowler pushes all year. My start was slow but once I got it moving I motored. I had one slip near the end as the rope was thin and I lost my rhythm in my pulling. Finished at 28.91 seconds which tied me for 8th. Now that doesn't sound so good until you realize that first was 24.19, so the separation in the times was close throughout. Points were not coming easy today. Overall, I felt good with it
Next was log press for max weight, last man standing rules. Every one did the weight and if you failed, you were done. We started at 200, pressed no problem, the next jump was to 240. My first thought, "fuck". I had been having log press problems all summer, I wanted a 220 next not 240. So when my turn came up I did what I always do in this situation, get fucking mad at the weight. the clean felt really good and the first attempt, too far out. Regrouped with the log on my chest, dipped and nailed the 240 log. I was damn pleased. heaviest log press to date, and a 40 pound PR from last summer. I tried 260, got it to my chest but no go on the press. Good for a tie for 5th.
Next event was the police cruiser push, which was a mini van 50 ft and then a suv 50 ft. Again, no worries here as I have been doing my prowler work. I set a good pace and felt that it was a good run but it was in 44.86 seconds, again good for 8th. Not too happy but eh. can't argue it, it was a good run.
Last event was the atlas stone to 56" for reps. I got to choose either a 255 pound stone or a 300 pound stone. I went for the 300 pounder, no guts no glory. In the end, I shit the bed on this event. I got a big goose egg of a 0. I got the stone up to the lip twice fairly easy, but my inexperience with stones showed, I was too far back when attempting to get it on the platform and it cost me here.
I finished 9th out of 12 and this is with a zero on the last event. I think that I did well, I have gained a lot of strength and just have to keep at it. I saw no real weakness over inexperience this time out. So I now have a winter to heal up and get stronger.
The one thing I took away from this day was always man the fuck up and give it your all. In no way are you going to get anywhere without putting it all out there and doing your best. I got a zero on an event, so what? I could have done the 255 stone and got points, but that wasn't what I trained for. I'm not going to go out and sell myself short of what I can do. i'm pumped about how I feel I did, and am ready for this upcoming weekend's powerlifting competition. so get out there and fucking lift heavy shit. no one is gonna be impressed with your 135 for 15.
So This weekend was the Law enforcement and fire games in Belleville, the strongman event. Leading up to the event I was feeling strong but also a bit nervous as I had let my strongman stuff take a backseat to powerlifting. I pack up, drive down, and get my shit in order.
It was a good day to have it. It was nice and warm, sunny, and no big winds. The venue was good, a nice big parking lot with a park behind it, unfortunately the crowd was small. I didn't care, I was there to prove that I am an up and comer, along with some others there.
First event was the truck pull, 20,000 pound fire truck using a harness and rope. For me, I was not concerned at all with this event. I am strong in my legs and have been doing heavy prowler pushes all year. My start was slow but once I got it moving I motored. I had one slip near the end as the rope was thin and I lost my rhythm in my pulling. Finished at 28.91 seconds which tied me for 8th. Now that doesn't sound so good until you realize that first was 24.19, so the separation in the times was close throughout. Points were not coming easy today. Overall, I felt good with it
Next was log press for max weight, last man standing rules. Every one did the weight and if you failed, you were done. We started at 200, pressed no problem, the next jump was to 240. My first thought, "fuck". I had been having log press problems all summer, I wanted a 220 next not 240. So when my turn came up I did what I always do in this situation, get fucking mad at the weight. the clean felt really good and the first attempt, too far out. Regrouped with the log on my chest, dipped and nailed the 240 log. I was damn pleased. heaviest log press to date, and a 40 pound PR from last summer. I tried 260, got it to my chest but no go on the press. Good for a tie for 5th.
Next event was the police cruiser push, which was a mini van 50 ft and then a suv 50 ft. Again, no worries here as I have been doing my prowler work. I set a good pace and felt that it was a good run but it was in 44.86 seconds, again good for 8th. Not too happy but eh. can't argue it, it was a good run.
Last event was the atlas stone to 56" for reps. I got to choose either a 255 pound stone or a 300 pound stone. I went for the 300 pounder, no guts no glory. In the end, I shit the bed on this event. I got a big goose egg of a 0. I got the stone up to the lip twice fairly easy, but my inexperience with stones showed, I was too far back when attempting to get it on the platform and it cost me here.
I finished 9th out of 12 and this is with a zero on the last event. I think that I did well, I have gained a lot of strength and just have to keep at it. I saw no real weakness over inexperience this time out. So I now have a winter to heal up and get stronger.
The one thing I took away from this day was always man the fuck up and give it your all. In no way are you going to get anywhere without putting it all out there and doing your best. I got a zero on an event, so what? I could have done the 255 stone and got points, but that wasn't what I trained for. I'm not going to go out and sell myself short of what I can do. i'm pumped about how I feel I did, and am ready for this upcoming weekend's powerlifting competition. so get out there and fucking lift heavy shit. no one is gonna be impressed with your 135 for 15.
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