The month of September has been crazy and I'm glad that it is almost over. Not only were there three guys at my gym in the final weeks of their meet prep for a contest that we really had no clue what it would consist of...I was/am trying to qualify for WSM-Masters 2018 as well. The gym has been full of tension the last several weeks and I want to share with you guys how my buddies did at Cyprus Strongest Man!
Right off the bat I want to make it clear that I accept no responsibility for their success. I didn't design their training program. Most of what I did was tell them "Stop that, don't do that, go lighter, don't get hurt or I'll flying side kick you in the knee..." over and over... These guys stuck together and put in the work.
Kostis, Chris, and Ilya were the only three people to sign up and the promoters of the contest decided to bring in one of their own athletes from Russia as a "ringer" to win the show (just like last year at he last minute). I don't know his name but he seemed like a nice enough guy but it is a really bum move on the side of the promoters of the show...two years in a row.
Sandbag Carry and Load: three bags about 50 feet from the bar of the super yoke. 80/176, 100/220, and 120/264 and none of the bags were "tightly packed" so you know that they were hard to handle. Kostis and Chris basically tied on this event but I will say that somehow Kostis managed to get that big 120 sandbag off the ground and moved a good bit...it was crazy.
Chris even took a minute to tie his shoes...
Ilya vs the other guy. Ilya took off like a...a...like a giant flying horse. Something like a unicorn with sunglasses on and wearing a mouth piece. By the time he was picking up the 3rd sandbag the other guy had just loaded the 2nd bag. He was flying and I start yelling "stop and reset, stop and reset" but it was too late...he dropped it ON the super yoke. By the time he picked it up again the other guy loaded his 3rd sandbag.
Overhead Press Medley: 105/231 log x 2 and 115/254 axle clean and press x 2 (clean each rep).
Kostis went out first and if he got any rep on any implement it would be a personal record. He attempted the log till time ran out and then I told him to go over and attempt the axle. The referee went to step in and I stopped him telling them "This is just for Kostis!" I seriously thought he was going to get it too...it was a dog fight!
Chris has been fighting off a bicep injury so the plan was to go slow and steady and just get whatever you can. He was not used to a 10 inch log which made the press easier but the clean harder/more dangerous. He got the 2 reps on the log and then knocked out the axle as well! Freaking heck yeah!
Ilya needed to rock and roll and make no mistakes. He could have gone faster but he might also have made a mistake. Got all 4 reps like they were near empty!
Pretty much after that the Strongman athletes seem to have been ignored. Photos were not published on their website and oddly enough I have very few.
Day 2 was a Max Deadlift, three attempts, and they left it open to ANYONE who wanted to enter. There were several powerlifters in the area that wanted to enter which was great to give the strongmen a little more rest between their attempts.
Kostis opened at 200/441 which I believe was a PR, and it flew. He followed himself with 210/462 and that was a great pull as well. I knew that he wasn't going to catch Chris even if he pulled 220 so I advised him to stop and save himself for stones. I mean...2 deadlift PRs right off the bat, what else can you ask for? (and they say that the weights at MY GYM are light?)
Chris opened at 260/572 and it flew. Next went 280/616 and it was lightning. The goal was to get that 300 and we got him calm then fired up! It was so much fun to see and I can't express how excited I got with him on this lift but he nailed the 300/661 deadlift. This is a guy that has been nearly crippled from back injury after back injury and here he is a year after we met breaking PRs with huge raw pulls!
Ilya opened with 280 and it was solid. I wasn't happy with the groove he was in but he has been hiding a torn patella tendon and he has barely pulled or squatted in 6 weeks. If you've been watching his training you've probably asked yourself "Why is he limping?". Next step was 300 and he nailed that one as well, matching a PR. We went for 320 kg for the win and he was just a little out of position and it wasn't meant to happen on this day...he did have it just below his knees and this will happen soon. We have a plan!
Going into stones the final placings were already set and determined. The refs asked me to come out and ref one side of this event and I declined because I wanted to coach and yell at the guys instead. There was a lot of concern with this event as the stones had never been tested, they were still wet, the platforms were TALL (first stone to 61 inches) and one of the athletes said that they could feel the rebar steel sticking out of the stone into their arms during warm ups. Organizers considered scrapping stones because Kostis "isn't tall" and they weren't sure if he could even load the first stone, which set my attitude on fire inside. I replied..."Kostis will shoulder the first stone and load it easily.
Chris vs Kostis. Kostis FLEW with the first two stones. I believe he had the 2nd stone loaded as Chris had just loaded the first stone. Kostis got to the 3rd and final stone and his body just gave out. Chris, slow and steady, loaded all three in a great display! I will say that after Kostis finished there was wet atlas stone all over his arms...it was like grabbing a 308 lb swiss ball covered in grease.
Ilya came out facing the other guy and what can I say? He just flew. Blew through all three stones in one motion and left everyone else in his dust!
In the end, the guys finished 2nd, 3rd, and 4th which is 1st, 2nd, and 3rd in Cyprus and they let everyone know that THEY are the strongest in Cyprus. Those three guys dedicated the last year to the sport of Strongman from top to bottom and it shows. This sport isn't easy...and neither are they!
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