2018 CA MID STATE FAIR’S STRONGEST MAN WRITE-UP

First, check here for the video

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=h2pesRFS8JM

This marks my 12^th strongman competition, and 3^rd after ACL reconstruction.  When I originally signed up, it was as a middle weight, as the cut off for lightweight was 175lbs, and I wasn’t going to cut that much.  I trained for the MW weights for the 2 months leading up to the competition and was sure I wasn’t going to zero an event, but 2 weeks before the comp they upped the MLW class limit to 200lbs and I made the switch.  It means I was training with a different strategy than usual, but it also meant my static strength was up and I had put on some muscle in the training cycle as I was trying my best to gain SOME quality weight to make up the difference.  Hell, being bigger and stronger is rarely a bad thing.

I already had my invite to nationals from a prior comp, so my goal here was to come back home to the Central Coast of CA and have some fun.  Brining home hardware would be a bonus.

THE TRAINING/EVENTS

Event 1: Log clean and press away (225lbs)

This was originally supposed to be 260lbs, and that is what I trained for.  I managed to hit 265lbs for 2 strict press singles in my training cycle, and I didn’t pay any attention to actually developing my leg drive, as I figured I wouldn’t get much more than a few reps.  Once the switch was announced to MLW weights, I spent 2 weeks trying to re-learn push pressing, but in general I wasn’t super great at it.  Ran 5/3/1 with a FSL backoff set for the whole training cycle, using a Titan 12” log.  Clean was the weakpoint.

Event 2: Car Deadlift

This went from a truck to a car for MLW.  Didn’t really change my training.  Did my normal ROM progression deads and then used the car deadlift simulator as a supplemental lift.  Stuck with my usual plan of just being strong and in shape.

Event 3: 180lb Sandbag/220lb keg/250lb hussafel stone carry

The stone for MW was supposed to be 280lbs, so I filled up an Ironmind sandbag with 5 50lb bags of playground sand banking on the fact that the sand always weighs more than 50lbs and did bearhug carries of that as supplemental work on my squat days.  I figured I knew how to carry a sandbag and a keg, and I just needed to develop a strong back.  Once the weights got lowered, it dawned on me that I had performed zero speed training for light implements, but I had done a show in April that year focusing on that, so I just hoped that would pay off.

Event 4: 2 hammer, 2 sandbags and 1 keg thrown over 16’ bar

Throwing is pretty much everything I don’t stand for, since it’s far more about technique than strength, so I dedicated pretty much zero time training for it.  The last 2 weeks of my training cycle, I took my 45lb kettlebell out and threw it over a 12.5-13’ crossbar at a fit trail by my house.  I managed to get it over 3 times in a total of 2 sessions, while hitting the crossbar a whole bunch of other times.

Event 5: Stone series up to 275lb stone 

Dedicated a good amount of time prepping for this.  Used the stone of steel for a weekly workout, working up to a top triple or single and then a backoff set.  Focused on learning some technique and just getting strong.

IN GENERAL: GETTING BIGGER AND STRONGER

I originally thought I was giving up like 50lbs competing as a MW, and so starting at 189.8lbs, I started a program to put on some quality weight.  I stuck with my normal 4 day a week approach of a press day, squat day, bench day and “deadlift” day (ROM progression mat pulls), but added a front squat specific workout between the bench day and the deadlift day, a heavy stone workout the day after deadlift day that also included prowler work for conditioning, and added a daily set of dips and chins.  The dips and chins were sub-max, but intended to accumulate as much volume as possible on top of all my other training. 

On top of all of this, for my squat day, the last 6 weeks of my prep were based off the Squat Protocol in Jon Andersen’s “Deep Water” training, which starts off with 10x10 squats and gets worse from there.  I figured that’d be an effective way to put on weight.

I upped my calories with quality sources.  I ended up adding 1 cup of fruit to my post workout meal, half an avocado per day to my daily intake, larger portions of meat at meals, and eventually 3/5 of a serving of Mass Tech prior to workouts. 

I ended up gaining 10lbs in 2 months with very little fat gain.  It was successful, and it also SUCKED to train and eat like that.  Learned a lot.

COMPETITION EVENTS/RESULTS

I weighed in at 199.0 the day before the competition, in full clothes with my wallet, keys and phone in my pocket.  The day of the comp, I got to warm-up by carrying an ice chest full of food and beverages about a mile through the fair in over 100 degree heat while arriving seconds before the rules meeting at the competition.  I managed to stop sweating just about in time for the first event, and figured that this was a good enough warm-up.

Event 1: Log clean and press away 225lbs

I signed up for the competition as soon as it was available, which meant I had the advantage of going last in this event.  I knew I needed to beat 7 reps.  In training, I had only managed 6, but that was with a Titan 12” log, and we were using slater 10” logs.  I did my traditional “warm-up” of 2 reps with an empty log and 1 rep with whatever was loaded by one of the female competitors during her warm-ups.  The log felt like a toy compared to the Titan log.

Competitor pro-tip: The competition was set-up as head to head, but since we only had 5 competitors in my weight class and I was going last, I was going solo.  Martins Licis was one of the judges, and I know from reputation he is incredibly strict…so I went to the other judge’s lane when I was called up.

I did what was probably a garbage clean, got set, and basically strict pressed the log.  It felt like nothing, so I just kept doing it over and over again until I hit 8.  I then held it overhead and chatted with the judge, asking her if 8 was the amount of reps I needed to win the event, if I DID the 8 reps I needed, and if she was sure I needed to do 8 reps to win.  Certainly cocky, but I wanted to put on a good show.  I had family and friends in the crowd.  I shut it down at 8 to conserve my energy for the rest of the competition.

Event 2: Car Deadlift with a Honda Civic

I got to go last again because of my first place finish.  The guy who got 7 reps on the log got 11 reps on this, and was the guy to beat.

I’ve pulled 32 and 34 reps on a car deadlift before, but I got to feel a REAL car deadlift this day.  Frame was very stiff, and it was a tough pull.  In addition, Martin Licis ruled that we would have an UP command for the deadlift, which meant no bouncing it like I’ve done before. 

The first 2 or 3 reps were a bit of a system shock, but after that I found my groove.  As I was lifting, I had “12” in my mind, and I couldn’t remember if I had to BEAT 12 or just get 12, so I got 13 just to be sure.  I had about 20 seconds to spare, and once again shut it down to save energy.

Event 3: Carry Medley: 180lb sandbag, 220lb keg and 250lb hussafel stone

Got go last on this event again.  This time, a dude that was more toward the middle of the pack set the distance to beat, who managed to get the sandbag and keg across and then take the stone for 5 laps and some change in his time.  We had 2 lanes going, and 2 people slipped on the far lane, so I picked the near lane.

I picked the sandbag first, since they can be a pain to pick up.  Carrying it was fine, but I slipped on the run back to the keg, which shook my confidence a touch since I’m still post knee surgery.  I took the keg a little slower, and then went for the stone.  First time ever touching the implement, and I realized how green I was when I approached it, because I never strategized HOW I was going to approach it until that exact moment.  I got a garbage pick on it and just tried to brute force it for as long as I could.  Time wasn’t being announced until there was 3 seconds left, and I shoulda known to ask for more of a countdown, because I was moving decent clip but found myself being the 8 ball with 3 seconds left.  I motored as fast as I could, but only managed 5 laps and missed the few extra feet necessary to take first.  Good enough for second place.

Learning experience on the stone: I used a sandbag to prep for it, which, though it made my back strong, I never accounted for how there would be plates sliding around in a loadable stone.  The plates would rock me back and forth and clang against the metal hall and jar me pretty good.  Something to be said about the benefit of specificity.

Immediately after this event, I lost the ability to extend my left arm fully without pain.  Seemed like the tendons in my forearms were locked into place.  Weirdly enough, I went and peed and after that I loosened back up again and was pain free.  I have NO idea what that possible correlation can be, but I treated it as though I was dehydrated and just slammed more Gatorade.

Event 4: 2 hammers, 2 sandbags and 1 keg over a 15’ bar

This was the event I had the most doubt about.  I hate throwing, as its all technique and explosiveness, and I have none of those things.  Like a good oaf, I decided to do nothing at all to prep for this and only do things I liked in my training cycle.  Right before the event, the guy who went second in the MLW told me that the best strategy was the just blitz through the first 3 implements, since only one guy managed to clear the 4^th, and he also hit the 5^th.  It was the same guy that took second in the first two events.

I took that advice and ran with it, and ended up launching the first 2 hammers clear into the stratosphere.  You can actually see on the video that they end up landing in the base camp of some competitors/spectators who thought for SURE they were safe there.  The first bag wasn’t much of a challenge, and then the second bag, which had been the widowmaker of the event, went up without a fight.  In total honesty, I feel like it was pure luck that carried me through on that one, and that maybe I could never replicate that shot again if I tried, but I managed.  After that, I grabbed the keg, gave it a practice swing which, in hindsight, I didn’t need to do, because it was super light and easy to throw.

I legitimately have no idea HOW I threw as well as I did, as I had zero training and minimal practice and no technique whatsoever, but I ended up winning the event.

If you end up using the Rogue throwbags, people kept screwing up because they let too much slack happen in the handles.  You need a slower swing, because if you try to whip the bag, it just catches on itself.

Event 5: Stone Series (145, 175, 225, 245, 275…guessing on most of these)

Once this event rolled around, there was such a clear divide between me and second place that it boiled down to I would have to take dead last in the stones while second place took first in order for me to lose my first place position.  That said, I still wanted to give it my all.

My plan was to one-motion as many stones as possible to move as quickly as I can.  I managed to do it with all but the final stone, which was pretty cool.  I actually made a first time ever mistake of applying too MUCH tacky, which I discovered the effects on with the final stone.  I had difficulty getting better positioning one my hands got on it because I was effectively glued to the stone, which meant I had trouble with the initial pick.  I had used comp grade spider tack this day, since it was 106 degrees and I thought a lighter blend would turn to soup in the heat, but next time I do that I need to appreciate that a little dab will do just fine.

I ended up winning this event, with enough time after completing to turn around and see the guy in second place lapping the final stone. 

This was a great showing for me, and an awesome competition.  Really feel like I’m firing on all cylinders.  I’ve secured another nationals invite and need to decide what is next at this point.  I’ll be honest: the events in nationals really don’t look super great, and I may just end up taking an off season and training how I want.  I have an Alaska cruise coming up at the end of Aug, so I’ll be doing a 3 week training cycle right before that and will see how I feel from there.