So....
Ilya and Lily are both preparing for a strongman contest in Germany in December...a really freaking heavy contest! Doing my best to hang with them on the events and it is about to kill me! It takes me about an extra hour to warm up than it does them. Part of me hates the getting older part and part of me can't wait for them to get to my level of Vintage and see the "Ohhh crap, yeah..." look on their face 🙂
Super Yoke:
I've been working for a while doing yoke with a sled behind me. Most of our pre-prep has been with bands hooked to the sled and to our body and that is how prep like this should begin. Don't just jump into the full on harness and expect it to be the magic recipe. Training this style KILLS the legs and promotes proper posture while doing the yoke. I worked up to about 620 lbs on the yoke and a heavy sled (note that my sled drags into the dirt/sand/rocks so my sled may not need nearly as much weight as yours).
Hercules Hold:
Having fun with a telephone pole, Yoke, Viking Press, and some SpudInc handles! Doing the best that I can with a badly banged up bicep tendon (under the arm pit) and these rolling handles. The take away is that you can't train for this event properly because every handle and set up will be different...so just train hard and improve your grip. Hit failure sparingly but do enough work to learn the technique and to build the gripping muscles. 1 set will not get it.
Car Deadlift:
There is a max deadlift in the contest but we have a feeling that it will be a partial. This means that there is no reason for us to put all of our eggs in one basket doing a normal deadlift from the floor. We are using the car deadlift as an accessory to the normal deadlift and focusing on doing a minimum of 3 sets each.
Fingal Finger Sled:
I came up with this and it does not work AT ALL unless you do it just like it is meant to be with the actual finger. Study some YouTube video of other athletes doing an actual finger and make sure that you do these with bands and get the rhythm down. Right hand, left leg, drive with anger and purpose! Do more than one set...3 should darn near kill you. Again, not much weight on my sled but it is also heavy enough to dig into the ground so...
I normally finish off with some accessory Dips (not on video) and Lily is working on her axle clean and press technique.
In the end, don't forget that today is not contest day so don't waste the day training with contest weight and/or TESTING! Study for the test and be prepared for THAT DAY and THAT DAY ALONE!