Strongest Man in Pittsburgh, May 2013
Ok, it was Masters Nationals and I didn't even go to New Jersey to complete. I was also the only one in my weight class, but I was still Pittsburgh's Strongest Man in the 230 class. Don't steal my thunder.
Anyway, if any other LW Master would have entered I probably wouldn't have won. Bottom line was, I followed though and I could have honestly gave a crap what I placed. Mostly because I knew what I had gone through just to be there.
Crack....that didn't sound good
Just about every year right around Spring break, we would try to get a training session in with all of the Denison coaches and alumni when the students weren't on campus. We had a big crew, which was awesome, and we were all warming up. I went to jump on top of a set of Judo mats (for absolutely no reason) and my hand hit the side. I heard a crack and my hand hurt like a mother. I thought I just bruised it, but the 3rd metacarpal was clicking back and forth. Got an X-Ray and it was confirmed.
Pittsburgh's Strongest Man was in 8 weeks
I got a brace and then felt sorry for myself....for about 5 minutes. I had to come up with a plan.
The Injury
I couldn't grab anything, hold anything, or push anything. My finger wouldn't track and I couldn't make a fist. Good thing grip isn't that important for strongman.
I knew I had to lay off for about 6 weeks as to let the bone heel. Being chubby, weak, and drug-free wasn't going to help in recovery or make a broken hand easier to deal with.
The Events
Off the dome, the events were:
Log Clean & Press for Reps
Farmer's Walk for Time (1 turn)
Atlas Stone Carry (grab from platform walk with one turn and reload)
Car Deadlift for reps
Tire Flip for distance (90 feet!)
For the first 6 weeks, I could do none of these. The last two, I could mess around with the log, tire, and maybe some deadlifts.
The Plan
Here is what I went with. I knew I had to do whatever I could to increase strength and have an aerobic base of conditioning. I had a 4- day split that was pretty similar to my normal plan.
MONDAY
1 Arm DB or KB Snatch
SS Yoke Bar or hands free front sqaut
Glute Ham Raise
TUESDAY
MB Shot Throws
1 Arm DB Bench Press
Band Pull-downs (hands looped through)
Gassers (or max dist for 1 min)
THURSDAY
Box Jumps
SS Yoke Bar Good Mornings
Yoke Walks - to simulate farmers
FRIDAY
1 Arm Fat Gripz Dumbell Clean & Press. With the broken hand, I did this progression.
Weeks 1-3: I put a leather anlke strap with a buck and hook around my wrist and attached Pairs of 5/8 Chains with a d-ring and did half kneeling presses.
Weeks 4-6: I did 1 Arm band overhead presses with the bands set up the same way they would be set up for banded military press only you grab the bend (around the thumb).
Bodyweight Rows with Sled Straps (loop hands through)
250yd shuttles (or max distance for 1 min)
6 Weeks
After 6 weeks I did some event work.
I worked up to the contest weight for doubles or triples on the Log
I did some farmer walked in replace of the yoke walks, but didn't do any turns due to the added stress on my hand.
I did some clusters sets with the Trap Bar
I did some flips with the tires (kept reps under 10 for all sets combined)
The Contest
Didn't feel any ill effects from the log and performance may have been better associated with my inability to cut weight effectively.
The Farmers were tough and I was good until the turn. I knew that would be difficult dud to the need to turn the hands at he turn.
The Atlas stones care was not a good event for me anyhow. Add the the inability to put a lot of pressure on the stone with my fingers and it's not good.
The Car deadlift was fine, but I didn't get to train it at a high capacity. The best way for me to describe a car dealift is like using a snatch grip/ neutral grip deadlift.
The tire was absolutely brutal. 90 feet with a 600-700 is no joke and if it wasn't for on of my high school teammates, Danny Kovacs, I would have said No Mas.
Regardless of what my performance was, I knew the obstacles I had going in to this contest. I really didn't need to prove anything to anyone. Just like when I finally get this neck injury figured out and come back. No one can understand the pain I go through everyday so I will prove it to myself in the end.
Top Commercial Gym Exercises for Strongman
With a lot of competitors saving their event days until the weekend either by choice or necessity; I wanted to do this list. I wrote a roundtable piece when I first started at elitefts, which I thought was interesting.
The 5 Best Barbell or Dumbbell Exercises for Strongman Roundtable
Steve Pulcinella has always said that if you don't have Strongman implements and you can't find someone with them to training with you are pretty lazy. I agree with him, but I think there are some exercises you can do to help with your strongman events.
1. Front Squat w/ Chains
One of the best exercises not only for lower body strength but for simulating the stones as well. Not saying the back squat is not beneficial, but if I had to choose one....
2. Conventional Deadlift with Short Light Bands
I really like the using the short bands. Easy to do mechanical drop sets and you don't need a platform.
3. Two Arm Clean & 1 Arm Dumbbell Press w/ Fat Gripz
What every strongman that lifts in a commercial gym should have: Bands, Fat Gripz, and a foam roller
4. Barbell High Pull
I also like the snatch for lighter weeks or deload weeks. Not a huge fan of traditional cleans because they are close enough to log and axle cleans to inhibit technique and not close enough biomechanically to reinforce it. High Pulls can have a great carryover to many of the strongman events
5. Barbell or Fat Bar Overhead Press
Overhead pressing is a stable of strongman. You can replace with bench press if you are doing a lot of OHP volume on event day.
6. Neutral Grip Chin-up
Not only adds to fixing muscular imbalances, but also can help with the log clean, stones, etc.
TRAINING
Saturday at the NSCA Headquarters in Colorado Springs
Log Press
140x10
Cable Pull-Down
110 x 10