USS Nationals events have changed - no knurled axle, deadlift is now 13" and weights have gone down ~~dramatically~~ a bit (Jon has continued to make edits):
https://www.instagram.com/reel/CqTOg64AvSg/?igshid=YmMyMTA2M2Y=
Pulled an elephant bar for the first time today. The amount of whip in the bar completely changed the lift and took some coaching to figure out how to deal with it.
Any idea how to get a scar to fully heal up? I've got one spot on my shin that I've ripped open many times while deadlifting and it always seems to get ripped open very very easily. Just this week i bashed it with a nonknurled axle and it ripped right open. Takes ages to heal and then will get torn again do easily. Any suggestions?
Thanks everyone for the suggestions. I'll just have to keep it covered and be cautious. Hopefully if enough time passes it'll get a bit tougher. Right now I seem to rip it open every few weeks.
Scar tissue is weaker than normal skin so it'll likely always be a vulnerable spot. As the other commenters say, you've just gotta cover it in one way or another
Use knee sleeves, don't put them on your knees just let them fall down your leg (assuming it's not weeping or anything)
You can also do a more controlled variation like an Ed Coan style deadlift with a pause just below the scar and if you need it, a more controlled eccentric to make it easier to stay clear of the scar.
If that still doesn't cut it, I'd do stiff legged deadlifts for a block. Or an RDL if you really want to be careful.
When I got that issue happening, I put athletic tape over my shins to keep it from retearing. 2-3 strips and a loop around at the top and at the bottom to secure.
Going to play with floating deads as a movement. My body seems to do well with lighter weight for longer sets so I could hopefully use these to build up all the pulling muscles.
Does anybody have any preferences for next months subreddit contest? Iām thinking that we have seen a lot of zerchers and zercher carries recently so we could do max zercher? Everybody would have the equipment then. Or we can do max dumbbell as thatās a WSM event, just hard to really gauge what people are lifting. Iām open to any ideas
If it is not a carry, what type of zercher would we be looking at? Full zercher (zercher deadlift), regular deadlift into zercher squat, zercher squat from rack?
Ideally something that is widely accessible. Do you mean for the zercher though? Coz if youāre gonna zercher a car deadlift then letās go with that
Had a first today, doing goblet squats for a warm up and had a bit too much pop coming up and wacked myself in the jaw with a 50lb dumbbell. Not very pleasant, do not recommend.
I'm a college kid who found a gym where i'm gonna be working where i can do sunday group strongman sessions for $10/month (imo a steal).
I'd describe my training as a powerlifting hypertrophy phase with not much specificity (225/405/435ish) and I'd classify myself as an early intermediate who binges enough niche youtube fitness to know my way around. I'm hoping to get out of these group sessions:
\- meeting and learning from bigger stronger trainees
\- grip strength, conditioning and upper back/bracing strength carryover to my normal training
Would this be a good idea as someone just looking to learn a bit and get some carryover and maybe trying and bombing out at a meet for fun without putting a massive and significantly detrimental recovery hole into the rest of my training?
You and I are in the same boat, I just started hanging out with the local Strongman club on Sundays. I still run my usual 3-day full body split, and I find Sundays haven't really negatively affected my recovery. I just make sure I don't overdo it, try not to ego lift and get caught up in competitiveness, especially since my numbers are nowhere NEAR the amateur strongmen I'm training with. I go hard on meddlies and conditioning stuff, sandbags, farmers, etc... but I try to be smart on deadlifts.
The one challenge to recover so far was fairly heavy back squats off blocks, and I hardly ever back squat--The quad DOMS was extreeeeeeme for like 3 days. Ah well.
I'm falling in love with the movements though, so later on I might try to replace certain movements during the week with Strongman stuff. Until Strongman, I'd never done overhead pressing other than kettlebells--now I love it!
The good news is, at least so far, it's a pretty relaxed atmosphere, lots of rest time between lifts and implements, whereas my weekly stuff is all in Giant Sets so if anything, I get beat up more then.
Typically a strongman workout will be much slower paced than your normal gym workout. I might only practice 4 different lifts/carries in 1.5 or 2 hours. The weights will be very heavy though and some of the exercises will really beat you up. Atlas stones are rough on the forearms until you get used to it. Heavy yoke runs have my thighs aching the next day.
The big difference is that strongmen need to lift through a lot of different ranges of motion and body positions compared to power lifting which focuses on a single plane of movement at a time. Plan on taking the next day off the first time you go.
Heck yeah, strongman Sundays are the best. Get in there, have fun, and learn a ton from the big guys. Youāll learn how you feel after the first one but youāll recover better than you think. If anything itāll help your current training style.
Do it!
I dont think there would be any harm in adding in that strongman event day.
Most important part IMO is not to over do it until you know how your body is going to handle it. You might feel fine on the day doing 10 heavy yoke runs/farmers/Sandbag work but events tend to beat the body up quite a bit and you may end up feeling rough the next few days.
Keep the weights/volume low for the first session and build from there.
[Bench Krypteia in under 32 minutes](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-M2PJtTFDQY) for the 1s week. I made it strongmanny by using an Ironmind axle, but that's not the important part.
Instead, focus on the Circus dumbbell goblet squats. Dudes: HOW have I not thought of this before? It's such a great idea. The goblet becomes more like a zercher, it's stupid easy to load, the diameter of the bell makes the squat self-correcting by forcing the knees out: I'm such a fan. I can see this becoming a very regular feature in my training.
I'm looking to get new knee sleeves, I've only ever used neoprene - Whats everyones preference for a all round knee sleeve for strongman - neoprene or dual-ply?
The new SC rules are kind of funny. No matter who you are you have to do the whole process local-regionals-nationals. So I have to do a local meet in order to qualify for regionals, and then either win regionals, or place top 10 at nationals. Like I totally get its the same rules for everyone, but I've gotten some interesting DM's from some local guys about how they feel from me jumping in to a local meet last second.
In the rack position (like before an axle or log press) I'd imagine its because you're using up more of your oxygen & literal energy when you finding your balance
Has anyone that has gone to WSM before know when the last event of the finals usually takes place?
WSM has the āscheduleā on their website, but no times listed at all. Trying to plan.
u/Inthemotherland u/bigreddoc
I pulled 505x3 on the axle today, from the floor. It's the heaviest I've pulled from the floor in forever. It was pretty hard but they were good reps. Busted a blood vessel in my eye so that was neat.
Depends on implement. Axle cleans are way more taxing for me than log cleans. And keeping a log in the rack messes with breathing more than a bar or axle
There is something of an x-factor here. Depending on how heavy the implement is, reps from the chest can be a challenge IF the rule is you only get ONE clean. In that instance, you have to be pretty strategic with breathing an execution. But with unlimited cleans, having to take each rep from the floor will always be more challenging.
For the coin, I'm just gonna put a couple 25's on a loading pin with a collar and hold it sideways like he shows in the video.
For the other, I got worms.
I made a 'coin hold' thing out of wood to approximate the implement. Definitely suggest you find some way to do this as it is fucking horrible and I suspect a lot of people are gonna get wasted on this one and be very surprised. It sucks.
For the worm I'm pulling a sled loaded up with the entire comp weight, strapped to my waist, and picking up a 100-150 pound sandbag and running backwards with it.
Also if you are big enough to warrant a L grip shirt DM me with your address, if you don't already have one. I am competing at 198 and have a S on the way as this thing is like a carpet burn machine. This shirt might be tight enough on somebody who weighs 2 4 2
edit: this goes for anyone. I will never be big enough to make use of this dumb shirt
Reach out to Stix and Stone, they've made custom ones for a couple of people
Or get a couple of these: https://www.amazon.com/Liberty-Garden-691-B-Heavy-Hanger/dp/B09JCMKNKN
Cut off the flanges and duct tape the hell out of them with a piece of cardboard or wood on the front and back
Anyone got any protips for training Hercules hold without an implement? For now I'm thinking I'll do max holds with barbell deadlifts and trap bar deadlifts after finishing my working sets for each, and also do daily timed holds from my pullup bar. Are there any other bits of grip work I can do that have good carryover?
I've won Hercules Hold both times I've had it in contest, and in training I never got to test the setups beforehand.
Things I think helped the most: heavy behind the back barbell holds and one armed hangs.
Hercules Hold setups aren't really standardized, so it's highly dependent on what specific setup the comp someone is competing in has.
Both the ones I did were fixed, one using large rings, the other thick triangle shaped handles. Most HH footage I've seen has fixed handles, but IIRC I've seen one or two use rotating.
If you have access to a big cable crossover machine you could use the cables on the inside to simulate the hold position, and use similar handles to whatever the contest is using.
Just make sure you don't break the equipment by dropping the weight stacks. Good way to get kicked out of a commercial gym.
You could also rig up something similar using a couple barbells facing each other inside a rig at head height, hang a pulley+weight from each one and do the same thing. This would depend on the arrangement of said rig.
Contact the event organizer and find out what kind of handles you'll be using. I had one in my first contest, and worked grip pretty well in a variety of ways and felt pretty prepared, but everything was done on standard types of handles/bars (all I had available). On the day of the competition, we found out we'd be using rolling thunder handles, which are 2 3/8" diameter and spin freely. At a weight that I could easily hold for over a minute with 1" diameter, I managed to survive less than 2 seconds before the rolling thunders peeled my hands open.
https://www.reddit.com/r/Fitness/comments/rkmv1r/overtrained_50_consecutive_days_of_benching/
I did this and enjoyed it. I wrote it up for press (with a better spreadsheet for programming) [here](https://www.reddit.com/r/weightroom/comments/10adca7/mini_program_review_super_safety_squats_x_oped/)
I used 3 sets of 5 reps strict press at 60% of my main work set weight as one of my pressing accessories, with a focus on moving the weight smoothly in a very controlled manner through the entire movement.
I finally put on 10kg on my strict press after being stuck on 90kg a long time. I did strict once a week, 3ish sets to fail. And push press once a week, 3ish sets to fail too. And a lot of incline pressing on top of that. Not much happened until I started doing the incline pressing too.
I've started doing high incline (1 increment from vertical) bench both from the top and from shoulder height pins. I think the main thing is working through your sticking point, I'm naturally a bit gangly so my sticking point is just off my shoulders and that part of my press is absolutely shit (though it is improving). Paused 45Ā° incline with a swiss bar seems to help as well, forces you to engage your lats and serratus more.
If I can get to 100kg high incline for sets of 5-8 by later this year I'll be gassed
Build big shoulders, back and tris. Do lots of strict pressing. Basically what you did with your bench but standing and press above your head.
You may also benefit from some mobility work if your pecs/lats are tight.
I still wanna do a Paul Kelso inspired Super Squats run that is pure trap bar.
Trap bar press 3x10
Trap bar row 2x15
Trap bar lift 1x20 w/Radar Chest pull
Trap bar SLDL 1x15
Trap bar shrugs 2-3x10
Trap bar calve raises
It'd be so clutch!
Confused the shit out of the Home Depot lady. Bought a 10' section of 1.5" black pipe and asked for 18" cut off each side and then none of the cut sides to be threaded. After looking at me like I was a moron she did it and I now have an axel bar and finally installed loading sleeves on the world's largest dumbbell. Adding the sleeves bumped the weight up from 76lbs to 82lbs. Will be messing around with it this weekend.
1.5" pipe has an OD of 1.9" barbell sleeves are 1.9-1.96". Schedule 40 will work, and from what I've read, it should allow you to go around 500 lbs. However, you're going to want schedule 80 if you can find it. Schedule 80 is still 1.9" OD, but the walls are thicker allowing for heavier weights.
Rest week for April 1 comp. Heavy events are looking good and now I'm just gonna spam front holds and conditioning all week.
Up against two guys who have 20+ pounds on me and one who I know nothing about. Both dudes regularly take a knee after a couple DL reps so I feel like just having a motor that won't quit is going to pay off. Same events as Nats in June and I'm really looking forward to a brutal but lower-stakes contest.
Powerlifter training for a strongman comp.
First, frame deadlift. Is a trap bar sufficient? If not, should I rig my farmers handles up to replicate?
Second, Viking press. I can get to the gym a few times to use the real deal but normally should ohp suffice? Log press preferable?
Whatever you can do to build your shoulder strength and endurance the most, do it. I like strict press but I was beat at a comp by a guy who out benched everyone and won the event. Basic brute strength trumps the difference between pressing types more often than not.
I trained really hard for 3 months for a viking press without having access to an actual implement... but I made the big mistake of training push press from a full rack position and realized too late that there is no bar to rest on your shoulders. If I could go back, I would train strict or push press, but with the bar floating just above my shoulders instead of in a rack position. Train the elbows to absorb the leg drive.
It was easier than I thought though. Loaded to 275, but felt like 175.
I think it really depends on the implement and how tall you are. There were guys with measuring tape trying to do the trigonometry before the event lol
Without knowing how much weight will actually be in hand, I'd train both up to the listed weight just in case, and also work on repping out something like 70-75%. Conditioning was a big factor since guys were doing 25+ reps.
Actually, I guess if someone built an implement where you pressed between the weight and the fulcrum you could have the weight in hand heavier than the weight on the device but it would look weird.
1. trap bar is fine 2. OHP is plenty for viking press, just don't train with a jerk because its usually not allowed for the viking press
I'd say barbell/axle OHP has more carryover to viking than log but either should help
Did some lifting this week. Dropped into a different gym today, did truck pull, sandbag load into an arm-over-arm, tire flips, frame carry.
Bonked a bit on my squat day, 420x3 ssb squat after 410x9 last week. I was supersetting with sandbag to shoulder so that may be some of it. A bit more food and hopefully the baby sleeps better this week. Did get up to a 405lb ssb Kang squat on the same day.
Did "Grace" with my 200lb keg. It was hard. Will try with a dumbbell soon.
Axle power clean 230 without too much trouble.
Sandbag workouts still very hard.
Just curious for the people in this sub, how long before a meet do you guys get hyperspecific in your event training? If you're 3 months out from a meet with axle clean & press but no log do you keep training on your log or do you just put that on the back burner? I could see how maintaining strength on all events could be good from a longevity perspective but one might say all the events are so similar it's not like you're going to lose too much strength on log if you're still axle pressing
If I was 3 months out, I'd be starting to do the event or a close variant. Eg. If it's an atlas stone max, I may start doing sandbag loads for sets of 5-8.
8 weeks out all my event training is comp specific, if I have axle in comp I will do zero log pressing those last 8 weeks.
Don't see a reason as to why I would try to maintain log, pressing will still be somewhat similar and it would just take time away from drilling my axle technique.
Hyper-specificity I normally leave until around 2-4 weeks from comp but will gradually start increasing more specific training from around 3 months.
The amount of specificity and how soon usually depends on my familiarity and confidence with event. E.g. brand new event with no experience = start early as possible, event in confident with = can leave until 4-8 weeks out
Target pull was 230, felt good so I went for 240 and got it. Only 10 kilos off my pre-injury PR now, and just under 14 weeks to get it up to 272.5.
The hamstring that has been a bit twingey for weeks actually felt fine, but the other hamstring felt slightly off, which doesn't make a lot of sense.
Also started doing a bit of treadmill running at the end of my sessions, 200m nearly killed me but it's a starting point. Target I guess is a 5 minute kilometre
Training has been going well for a while, recently had a slight twinge in my right form arm and lower bicep so rowing and sandbags are out of the question whilst rehabbing it.
Any ideas for lat work until I can row and carry again? Was thinking of dropping onto a 3 day DUP of squats, press and deads for the time being.
Just wondering if anyone has bought Brian Shawās neoprene shorts and if so, are they worth the price?
Also completely unrelated, I sometimes see people wearing elastic cuffs over knee/elbow sleeves and Iām wondering what the purpose is? I imagine just slightly more compression but I have no real idea
I got a tattoo on the inside of my forearm last Monday, how long do you think I need to wait to do something like stones without risking messing it up?
Doesn't matter if it's healed, stones will mess it up. Wearing sleeves to prevent/limit scraping is your best bet. Depending on the tattoo, I'd wait maybe a month before stones
deadlift suit shenanigans again, some filthy hitching going on on all my heaviest pulls.
[220x2 set 1](https://imgur.com/a/NtFq7S1)
[220x2 set 2](https://imgur.com/a/9oWJ9Jr)
[230x1](https://imgur.com/a/EYslFi3)
Also earlier in the training session fully passed out on log press. Was only on the first rep out of 3 but felt lightheaded with the log on my chest, still pressed it and dropped the log to reset for the next rep. Crouched down trying to wait out the lightheadedness but there was no fighting it, passed out and fell backwards lol.
Feel like I tried so much shit at this point but nothing seems to really help against it, it's also very inconsistent so I can't figure out why I get so lightheaded on log. After some rest I went for it again and did all 3 reps without issue for example, any tips and tricks are welcome at this point.
Breath out during the press. Only thing that helped me. A forceful breathout where you still have maybe half your breath left at the top of the rep. Should sound kinda like tssss. Kind of common in powerlifting.
Also, for reps, breathe in at the top when fully locked out.
huh I see, I'll give it a go next log session. I usually do a full reset on log though when doing reps, hate pressing away as even with breathing at the top I get seriously lightheaded.
Do you use a belt on log? I always used to but have been trying out just a soft belt this block and up till last session the lightheadedness was alot better, but it could also just be that the lighter weight of previous weeks wasnt enough to cause any.
I have the same issue on log. I find its worse if I drank alcohol the day before, and a littler better (1) if log isn't the first thing I do that day and/or (2) if I drink some type of electrolyte mix before. Your results may vary.
Also, unrelated: home much if at all do you think that suit would help on an 18 inch pull?
I don't drink but I do suffer from pretty much 24/7 dehydration lol, drink a ton of water and take regular salt and electrolyte powder through the day but still struggle with it. I'll see about using them right before training.
And I honestly couldn't tell you about the 18 inch pull, it's my first block ever using a suit and only done regular height DL.
My guess would be that it helps, but not much. You only really get the pop by going low and hanging in the suit, which is obviously a lot less possible on 18inch pulls.
Try eating some fruits just before training. Ones high in electrolytes like bananas or oranges. Iāve found that they help. My pseudoscience reasoning tells me that you get more out of them since your body has to digest them, rather than fast absorbing powders.
Starting off the training thread right with the chance of winning some Gymwear! Weāre doing a comp [over on our Instagram](https://www.instagram.com/p/CqGrd5IoX_F/?igshid=YmMyMTA2M2Y=) where you can win a couple tees, stickers & other bits plus weāll design a tee based on your idea and run it as a limited edition where you make some š°š°
USS Nationals events have changed - no knurled axle, deadlift is now 13" and weights have gone down ~~dramatically~~ a bit (Jon has continued to make edits): https://www.instagram.com/reel/CqTOg64AvSg/?igshid=YmMyMTA2M2Y=
Max throwing bag to 4 metres cause it'll help me prep for my compš
Took 1st at Windy City's Strongest today. Do your conditioning, kids, because if there's a bigger guy, you gotta be the one who won't quit. Woof.
Pulled an elephant bar for the first time today. The amount of whip in the bar completely changed the lift and took some coaching to figure out how to deal with it.
Any idea how to get a scar to fully heal up? I've got one spot on my shin that I've ripped open many times while deadlifting and it always seems to get ripped open very very easily. Just this week i bashed it with a nonknurled axle and it ripped right open. Takes ages to heal and then will get torn again do easily. Any suggestions?
Thanks everyone for the suggestions. I'll just have to keep it covered and be cautious. Hopefully if enough time passes it'll get a bit tougher. Right now I seem to rip it open every few weeks.
Scar tissue is weaker than normal skin so it'll likely always be a vulnerable spot. As the other commenters say, you've just gotta cover it in one way or another
Use knee sleeves, don't put them on your knees just let them fall down your leg (assuming it's not weeping or anything) You can also do a more controlled variation like an Ed Coan style deadlift with a pause just below the scar and if you need it, a more controlled eccentric to make it easier to stay clear of the scar. If that still doesn't cut it, I'd do stiff legged deadlifts for a block. Or an RDL if you really want to be careful.
When I got that issue happening, I put athletic tape over my shins to keep it from retearing. 2-3 strips and a loop around at the top and at the bottom to secure.
Going to play with floating deads as a movement. My body seems to do well with lighter weight for longer sets so I could hopefully use these to build up all the pulling muscles.
A cycle or two ago I had floating, tempo, snatch grip deads lmfao. Those were killer, but definitely helped IMO.
Sounds good. Big back time.
Does anybody have any preferences for next months subreddit contest? Iām thinking that we have seen a lot of zerchers and zercher carries recently so we could do max zercher? Everybody would have the equipment then. Or we can do max dumbbell as thatās a WSM event, just hard to really gauge what people are lifting. Iām open to any ideas
I vote dumbbell because I don't like zerchers
If it is not a carry, what type of zercher would we be looking at? Full zercher (zercher deadlift), regular deadlift into zercher squat, zercher squat from rack?
Yeh full zercher from the floor to lockout, for max weight
Does it matter which implement could be used? Yoke/axle/barbell/ car deadlift? Could make it interesting
Ideally something that is widely accessible. Do you mean for the zercher though? Coz if youāre gonna zercher a car deadlift then letās go with that
The car deadlift would be a little more niche, but yes for the zercher. Would it be from the floor, or a carry, or what kind of variety?
Just bought flights to London and tickets to the GL Strongman Classic 2023 in July. Excited like a little boy in a candy shop.
Had a first today, doing goblet squats for a warm up and had a bit too much pop coming up and wacked myself in the jaw with a 50lb dumbbell. Not very pleasant, do not recommend.
"Mom I want rolling thunder!" ["We have rolling thunder at home"](https://photos.app.goo.gl/WdhfviLrsmswi8js9)
I'm a college kid who found a gym where i'm gonna be working where i can do sunday group strongman sessions for $10/month (imo a steal). I'd describe my training as a powerlifting hypertrophy phase with not much specificity (225/405/435ish) and I'd classify myself as an early intermediate who binges enough niche youtube fitness to know my way around. I'm hoping to get out of these group sessions: \- meeting and learning from bigger stronger trainees \- grip strength, conditioning and upper back/bracing strength carryover to my normal training Would this be a good idea as someone just looking to learn a bit and get some carryover and maybe trying and bombing out at a meet for fun without putting a massive and significantly detrimental recovery hole into the rest of my training?
You and I are in the same boat, I just started hanging out with the local Strongman club on Sundays. I still run my usual 3-day full body split, and I find Sundays haven't really negatively affected my recovery. I just make sure I don't overdo it, try not to ego lift and get caught up in competitiveness, especially since my numbers are nowhere NEAR the amateur strongmen I'm training with. I go hard on meddlies and conditioning stuff, sandbags, farmers, etc... but I try to be smart on deadlifts. The one challenge to recover so far was fairly heavy back squats off blocks, and I hardly ever back squat--The quad DOMS was extreeeeeeme for like 3 days. Ah well. I'm falling in love with the movements though, so later on I might try to replace certain movements during the week with Strongman stuff. Until Strongman, I'd never done overhead pressing other than kettlebells--now I love it! The good news is, at least so far, it's a pretty relaxed atmosphere, lots of rest time between lifts and implements, whereas my weekly stuff is all in Giant Sets so if anything, I get beat up more then.
Typically a strongman workout will be much slower paced than your normal gym workout. I might only practice 4 different lifts/carries in 1.5 or 2 hours. The weights will be very heavy though and some of the exercises will really beat you up. Atlas stones are rough on the forearms until you get used to it. Heavy yoke runs have my thighs aching the next day. The big difference is that strongmen need to lift through a lot of different ranges of motion and body positions compared to power lifting which focuses on a single plane of movement at a time. Plan on taking the next day off the first time you go.
Heck yeah, strongman Sundays are the best. Get in there, have fun, and learn a ton from the big guys. Youāll learn how you feel after the first one but youāll recover better than you think. If anything itāll help your current training style. Do it!
I dont think there would be any harm in adding in that strongman event day. Most important part IMO is not to over do it until you know how your body is going to handle it. You might feel fine on the day doing 10 heavy yoke runs/farmers/Sandbag work but events tend to beat the body up quite a bit and you may end up feeling rough the next few days. Keep the weights/volume low for the first session and build from there.
[Bench Krypteia in under 32 minutes](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-M2PJtTFDQY) for the 1s week. I made it strongmanny by using an Ironmind axle, but that's not the important part. Instead, focus on the Circus dumbbell goblet squats. Dudes: HOW have I not thought of this before? It's such a great idea. The goblet becomes more like a zercher, it's stupid easy to load, the diameter of the bell makes the squat self-correcting by forcing the knees out: I'm such a fan. I can see this becoming a very regular feature in my training.
I'm looking to get new knee sleeves, I've only ever used neoprene - Whats everyones preference for a all round knee sleeve for strongman - neoprene or dual-ply?
Wraps when it needs to be tight (Squats, but also heavy yoke) and neoprene sleeves for everything else.
It seems like the popular thing to have yoke medleys now. Do you still wrap for that or is it usually low e light weight to just use sleeves?
I have never done a yoke medley. But just out of habit, I would probably put on the wraps. Just not as tightly wrapped as I do when squatting.
The new SC rules are kind of funny. No matter who you are you have to do the whole process local-regionals-nationals. So I have to do a local meet in order to qualify for regionals, and then either win regionals, or place top 10 at nationals. Like I totally get its the same rules for everyone, but I've gotten some interesting DM's from some local guys about how they feel from me jumping in to a local meet last second.
What is it about stumbling a bit at lockout or in the rack position that is so exhausting? Is it mostly psychological?
In the rack position (like before an axle or log press) I'd imagine its because you're using up more of your oxygen & literal energy when you finding your balance
Maybe itās the adrenaline dump of your body thinking it almost died?
Has anyone that has gone to WSM before know when the last event of the finals usually takes place? WSM has the āscheduleā on their website, but no times listed at all. Trying to plan.
They'll probably get it all done on the right day but beyond that, I'd put more faith in a lemonade stand run by 8 year olds.
u/Inthemotherland u/bigreddoc I pulled 505x3 on the axle today, from the floor. It's the heaviest I've pulled from the floor in forever. It was pretty hard but they were good reps. Busted a blood vessel in my eye so that was neat.
Nice job man. You have any 1RM testing coming up?
Nothing planned right now, but I have some time between Apr 15 contest and nationals where I am going to really try get my pull stronger
Nice! What kind of straps are you using? Because I'm having issues with axle straps.
Serious Steel 80 cm Figure 8s.
Would you say overhead reps from the chest are harder or reps from the floor?
Depends on implement. Axle cleans are way more taxing for me than log cleans. And keeping a log in the rack messes with breathing more than a bar or axle
There is something of an x-factor here. Depending on how heavy the implement is, reps from the chest can be a challenge IF the rule is you only get ONE clean. In that instance, you have to be pretty strategic with breathing an execution. But with unlimited cleans, having to take each rep from the floor will always be more challenging.
definitely from the floor - having to clean the bar/log/thing before every repetition just consumes *a lot* more energy.
Floor.
What is everyone doing to train for nationals, particularly the hold and the worm event?
For the coin, I'm just gonna put a couple 25's on a loading pin with a collar and hold it sideways like he shows in the video. For the other, I got worms.
What video????
https://www.instagram.com/uss_nationals_2023/ all implements/rules are also on Jon Lester's instagram
Coin hold video: https://www.facebook.com/1581170805/videos/483864217292450/
Love you
Where did you get your worms and how much were they? The only ones I can find run over $300
My workplace has them. I didn't buy them. I'm just fortunate to have access. Some crossfit gyms have them for team event training.
I made a 'coin hold' thing out of wood to approximate the implement. Definitely suggest you find some way to do this as it is fucking horrible and I suspect a lot of people are gonna get wasted on this one and be very surprised. It sucks. For the worm I'm pulling a sled loaded up with the entire comp weight, strapped to my waist, and picking up a 100-150 pound sandbag and running backwards with it.
If you're in the PNW DM me - I know a couple people out there who have coins for training
Sadly I am in the SW (NM) but would be willing to perhaps pay for shipping if there is someone who can make them.
Also if you are big enough to warrant a L grip shirt DM me with your address, if you don't already have one. I am competing at 198 and have a S on the way as this thing is like a carpet burn machine. This shirt might be tight enough on somebody who weighs 2 4 2 edit: this goes for anyone. I will never be big enough to make use of this dumb shirt
Reach out to Stix and Stone, they've made custom ones for a couple of people Or get a couple of these: https://www.amazon.com/Liberty-Garden-691-B-Heavy-Hanger/dp/B09JCMKNKN Cut off the flanges and duct tape the hell out of them with a piece of cardboard or wood on the front and back
Thanks for all your help. Unfortunately, I'm a 181 lb female so I doubt the grip shirt would work, but I really appreciate all of the tips!
Anyone got any protips for training Hercules hold without an implement? For now I'm thinking I'll do max holds with barbell deadlifts and trap bar deadlifts after finishing my working sets for each, and also do daily timed holds from my pullup bar. Are there any other bits of grip work I can do that have good carryover?
I've won Hercules Hold both times I've had it in contest, and in training I never got to test the setups beforehand. Things I think helped the most: heavy behind the back barbell holds and one armed hangs.
I've never been able to use hercules hold implements. Do the handles rotate?
Hercules Hold setups aren't really standardized, so it's highly dependent on what specific setup the comp someone is competing in has. Both the ones I did were fixed, one using large rings, the other thick triangle shaped handles. Most HH footage I've seen has fixed handles, but IIRC I've seen one or two use rotating.
If you have access to a big cable crossover machine you could use the cables on the inside to simulate the hold position, and use similar handles to whatever the contest is using. Just make sure you don't break the equipment by dropping the weight stacks. Good way to get kicked out of a commercial gym. You could also rig up something similar using a couple barbells facing each other inside a rig at head height, hang a pulley+weight from each one and do the same thing. This would depend on the arrangement of said rig.
Have some strong friends play tug o war with your arms
Contact the event organizer and find out what kind of handles you'll be using. I had one in my first contest, and worked grip pretty well in a variety of ways and felt pretty prepared, but everything was done on standard types of handles/bars (all I had available). On the day of the competition, we found out we'd be using rolling thunder handles, which are 2 3/8" diameter and spin freely. At a weight that I could easily hold for over a minute with 1" diameter, I managed to survive less than 2 seconds before the rolling thunders peeled my hands open.
I just did trap bar holds a couple of times a week and that worked really well
What is the best way to increase my strict press? I am no longer doing powerlifting and I have pretty weak shoulders compared to my chest.
https://www.reddit.com/r/Fitness/comments/rkmv1r/overtrained_50_consecutive_days_of_benching/ I did this and enjoyed it. I wrote it up for press (with a better spreadsheet for programming) [here](https://www.reddit.com/r/weightroom/comments/10adca7/mini_program_review_super_safety_squats_x_oped/)
I used 3 sets of 5 reps strict press at 60% of my main work set weight as one of my pressing accessories, with a focus on moving the weight smoothly in a very controlled manner through the entire movement.
I finally put on 10kg on my strict press after being stuck on 90kg a long time. I did strict once a week, 3ish sets to fail. And push press once a week, 3ish sets to fail too. And a lot of incline pressing on top of that. Not much happened until I started doing the incline pressing too.
I've started doing high incline (1 increment from vertical) bench both from the top and from shoulder height pins. I think the main thing is working through your sticking point, I'm naturally a bit gangly so my sticking point is just off my shoulders and that part of my press is absolutely shit (though it is improving). Paused 45Ā° incline with a swiss bar seems to help as well, forces you to engage your lats and serratus more. If I can get to 100kg high incline for sets of 5-8 by later this year I'll be gassed
Build big shoulders, back and tris. Do lots of strict pressing. Basically what you did with your bench but standing and press above your head. You may also benefit from some mobility work if your pecs/lats are tight.
Following! :D
Trap bar going to start being my go-to when I need to get a workout in a hurry.
I still wanna do a Paul Kelso inspired Super Squats run that is pure trap bar. Trap bar press 3x10 Trap bar row 2x15 Trap bar lift 1x20 w/Radar Chest pull Trap bar SLDL 1x15 Trap bar shrugs 2-3x10 Trap bar calve raises It'd be so clutch!
Confused the shit out of the Home Depot lady. Bought a 10' section of 1.5" black pipe and asked for 18" cut off each side and then none of the cut sides to be threaded. After looking at me like I was a moron she did it and I now have an axel bar and finally installed loading sleeves on the world's largest dumbbell. Adding the sleeves bumped the weight up from 76lbs to 82lbs. Will be messing around with it this weekend.
I was thinking about doing this, but I was going to ask for 2" pipe... glad I read this first lol
1.5" pipe has an OD of 1.9" barbell sleeves are 1.9-1.96". Schedule 40 will work, and from what I've read, it should allow you to go around 500 lbs. However, you're going to want schedule 80 if you can find it. Schedule 80 is still 1.9" OD, but the walls are thicker allowing for heavier weights.
amazing, thank you!!
Rest week for April 1 comp. Heavy events are looking good and now I'm just gonna spam front holds and conditioning all week. Up against two guys who have 20+ pounds on me and one who I know nothing about. Both dudes regularly take a knee after a couple DL reps so I feel like just having a motor that won't quit is going to pay off. Same events as Nats in June and I'm really looking forward to a brutal but lower-stakes contest.
Powerlifter training for a strongman comp. First, frame deadlift. Is a trap bar sufficient? If not, should I rig my farmers handles up to replicate? Second, Viking press. I can get to the gym a few times to use the real deal but normally should ohp suffice? Log press preferable?
Whatever you can do to build your shoulder strength and endurance the most, do it. I like strict press but I was beat at a comp by a guy who out benched everyone and won the event. Basic brute strength trumps the difference between pressing types more often than not.
I trained really hard for 3 months for a viking press without having access to an actual implement... but I made the big mistake of training push press from a full rack position and realized too late that there is no bar to rest on your shoulders. If I could go back, I would train strict or push press, but with the bar floating just above my shoulders instead of in a rack position. Train the elbows to absorb the leg drive. It was easier than I thought though. Loaded to 275, but felt like 175.
Oh man that is super helpful thank you. Also I was curious if Viking press feels easier than ohp. Glad to hear it does
I think it really depends on the implement and how tall you are. There were guys with measuring tape trying to do the trigonometry before the event lol Without knowing how much weight will actually be in hand, I'd train both up to the listed weight just in case, and also work on repping out something like 70-75%. Conditioning was a big factor since guys were doing 25+ reps.
Because it's a lever, the weight in hand will always be less than what is loaded on the implement.
Actually, I guess if someone built an implement where you pressed between the weight and the fulcrum you could have the weight in hand heavier than the weight on the device but it would look weird.
1. trap bar is fine 2. OHP is plenty for viking press, just don't train with a jerk because its usually not allowed for the viking press I'd say barbell/axle OHP has more carryover to viking than log but either should help
Did some lifting this week. Dropped into a different gym today, did truck pull, sandbag load into an arm-over-arm, tire flips, frame carry. Bonked a bit on my squat day, 420x3 ssb squat after 410x9 last week. I was supersetting with sandbag to shoulder so that may be some of it. A bit more food and hopefully the baby sleeps better this week. Did get up to a 405lb ssb Kang squat on the same day. Did "Grace" with my 200lb keg. It was hard. Will try with a dumbbell soon. Axle power clean 230 without too much trouble. Sandbag workouts still very hard.
Just curious for the people in this sub, how long before a meet do you guys get hyperspecific in your event training? If you're 3 months out from a meet with axle clean & press but no log do you keep training on your log or do you just put that on the back burner? I could see how maintaining strength on all events could be good from a longevity perspective but one might say all the events are so similar it's not like you're going to lose too much strength on log if you're still axle pressing
One month if at all.
If I was 3 months out, I'd be starting to do the event or a close variant. Eg. If it's an atlas stone max, I may start doing sandbag loads for sets of 5-8.
8 weeks out all my event training is comp specific, if I have axle in comp I will do zero log pressing those last 8 weeks. Don't see a reason as to why I would try to maintain log, pressing will still be somewhat similar and it would just take time away from drilling my axle technique.
Hyper-specificity I normally leave until around 2-4 weeks from comp but will gradually start increasing more specific training from around 3 months. The amount of specificity and how soon usually depends on my familiarity and confidence with event. E.g. brand new event with no experience = start early as possible, event in confident with = can leave until 4-8 weeks out
I usually test comp weights out maybe a month before and see how much specificity I need.
Target pull was 230, felt good so I went for 240 and got it. Only 10 kilos off my pre-injury PR now, and just under 14 weeks to get it up to 272.5. The hamstring that has been a bit twingey for weeks actually felt fine, but the other hamstring felt slightly off, which doesn't make a lot of sense. Also started doing a bit of treadmill running at the end of my sessions, 200m nearly killed me but it's a starting point. Target I guess is a 5 minute kilometre
Training has been going well for a while, recently had a slight twinge in my right form arm and lower bicep so rowing and sandbags are out of the question whilst rehabbing it. Any ideas for lat work until I can row and carry again? Was thinking of dropping onto a 3 day DUP of squats, press and deads for the time being.
Pullovers
straight arm pulldowns too, hit the opposite end of the resistance curve
Been sick and unable to train for like 2 weeks, but gonna get after it this week. Gotta get my steintossen in for this month.
Just wondering if anyone has bought Brian Shawās neoprene shorts and if so, are they worth the price? Also completely unrelated, I sometimes see people wearing elastic cuffs over knee/elbow sleeves and Iām wondering what the purpose is? I imagine just slightly more compression but I have no real idea
I know a guy who said he's had issues with the seam near the groin area tearing. Thats all I've heard tho
I got a tattoo on the inside of my forearm last Monday, how long do you think I need to wait to do something like stones without risking messing it up?
Doesn't matter if it's healed, stones will mess it up. Wearing sleeves to prevent/limit scraping is your best bet. Depending on the tattoo, I'd wait maybe a month before stones
deadlift suit shenanigans again, some filthy hitching going on on all my heaviest pulls. [220x2 set 1](https://imgur.com/a/NtFq7S1) [220x2 set 2](https://imgur.com/a/9oWJ9Jr) [230x1](https://imgur.com/a/EYslFi3) Also earlier in the training session fully passed out on log press. Was only on the first rep out of 3 but felt lightheaded with the log on my chest, still pressed it and dropped the log to reset for the next rep. Crouched down trying to wait out the lightheadedness but there was no fighting it, passed out and fell backwards lol. Feel like I tried so much shit at this point but nothing seems to really help against it, it's also very inconsistent so I can't figure out why I get so lightheaded on log. After some rest I went for it again and did all 3 reps without issue for example, any tips and tricks are welcome at this point.
Breath out during the press. Only thing that helped me. A forceful breathout where you still have maybe half your breath left at the top of the rep. Should sound kinda like tssss. Kind of common in powerlifting. Also, for reps, breathe in at the top when fully locked out.
huh I see, I'll give it a go next log session. I usually do a full reset on log though when doing reps, hate pressing away as even with breathing at the top I get seriously lightheaded. Do you use a belt on log? I always used to but have been trying out just a soft belt this block and up till last session the lightheadedness was alot better, but it could also just be that the lighter weight of previous weeks wasnt enough to cause any.
Yea I use a belt, not that tight but use it to aid the clean.
I have the same issue on log. I find its worse if I drank alcohol the day before, and a littler better (1) if log isn't the first thing I do that day and/or (2) if I drink some type of electrolyte mix before. Your results may vary. Also, unrelated: home much if at all do you think that suit would help on an 18 inch pull?
I don't drink but I do suffer from pretty much 24/7 dehydration lol, drink a ton of water and take regular salt and electrolyte powder through the day but still struggle with it. I'll see about using them right before training. And I honestly couldn't tell you about the 18 inch pull, it's my first block ever using a suit and only done regular height DL. My guess would be that it helps, but not much. You only really get the pop by going low and hanging in the suit, which is obviously a lot less possible on 18inch pulls.
Try eating some fruits just before training. Ones high in electrolytes like bananas or oranges. Iāve found that they help. My pseudoscience reasoning tells me that you get more out of them since your body has to digest them, rather than fast absorbing powders.
Starting off the training thread right with the chance of winning some Gymwear! Weāre doing a comp [over on our Instagram](https://www.instagram.com/p/CqGrd5IoX_F/?igshid=YmMyMTA2M2Y=) where you can win a couple tees, stickers & other bits plus weāll design a tee based on your idea and run it as a limited edition where you make some š°š°