The MONSTER GARAGE GYM/MAROSCHER COACHING LOG is a weekly Coaching Log by MGG owner, 2-Time WPC World Powerlifting Champion, Eric Maroscher, and is one of the Featured Coaching Logs at EliteFTS.
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Monster Garage Gym/Maroscher Coaching Log: (Log number LXXXVI). 5 HUGE STRONGMAN TIPS Part III.

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5 MORE HUGE STRONGMAN TIPS, Part III in this IV Part Series!!!!!

This coaching log is PART III of a IV part series where I have invited Pro-Strongwoman Kristin Johnson of the MONSTER GARAGE GYM to share with your via EliteFTS, her TOP 20 HUGE STRONGMAN TIPS. Part I and Part II of this series can be found right here: https://www.elitefts.com/coaching-logs/5-huge-strongman-tips-part-i-hd-videos-included/
https://www.elitefts.com/coaching-logs/5-huge-strongman-tips-part-ii-hd-videos-included/

MGG Kristing Pro Card Strongman14184300_10210289735466957_5472496051076647656_nMGG Kristing Pro Card Strongman
Fun after the meet with Pro Strongman middle weights: Dani Schwalbe (left), Kristin Johnson (center), Liefia Ingalls (right). Photo courtesy of: Liefia Ingalls

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Each week of this four part series will highlight 5 MORE HUGE STRONGMAN TIPS that both Kristin and I hope will help you in your training as a strongman competitor, a powerlifter who incorporates strongman into his/her training, or any strength athlete who sees the value of functional strength as it relates to their own strength and power goals.

This, PART III of IV begins with a quick reiteration of of what got us here, then dives right into Kristin’s 5 ADDITIONAL HUGE STRONGMAN TIPS. *If you have not looked at Part I and Part II stop right here, and click the links above to catch up. If you already have, you can re-read or by-pass the reiteration (in bold below) and go right to Kristin’s portion of the log. As I mentioned in the PART I and PART II, Kristin is our guest log author for this four part series and we feel this will be of great insight and benefit to you.

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Reiteration:
The family of Strongman competitors is a close knit group. These individuals are a kindred spirit who cheer one another on during competition, pick one another up in defeat and encourage and motivate one another during training.

Within this Strongman group is an even smaller group, a sub-culture of a sub-culture. This group are the Strongman athletes who have attained their pro-card, and compete within this smaller group for pride, self-fulfillment, and as they are pro, maybe even for a little bit of cash. Kristin Johnson of the MONSTER GARAGE GYM is one of the newest members to this group, the professional branch off of the Strongman strength tree.

Most recently, Kristin Johnson was known as the #5 ranked women’s amateur strongman in the middleweight division. This was a label she earned at the 2016 Arnold Expo. Prior to that, Kristin was the NAS Kentucky State and NAS Illinois State champion strongman in her division. As a competitive powerlifter Kristin has pressed over 300LBS RAW and 450LBS (shirt) also at a bdw of 181lBS and finds herself routinely in the TOP five and TOP 10 rankings world-wide in her division as a powerlifter as well.

With regard to Strongman, it no secret that reaching the professional level in the strongman game is a huge personal benchmark, one that the majority of strongman competitors would love to reach, but only the smallest of % actually achieve this pinnacle of success.

As EliteFTS and MONSTER GARAGE GYM are about Live, Learn and Pass on, this coaching log is PART III of IV as we want to take advantage of what Kristin has achieved through her hard work and partnering with some of the sports best teachers in an effort to provide those striving for this elusive card to learn from one of the true up-and-comers in the world of strongman.

So, at this time, I am going to turn over the keyboard to Kristin, as she will be doing the heavy lifting (pun intended) in this coaching log to share with you, 5 HUGE STRONGMAN TIPS!!!!

These are 5 MORE HUGE STRONGMAN TIPS (a total of 20 over this IV part series) that have served her well as she set her sites on, created a plan for, executed the plan for and achieved the goal of becoming a pro-card carrying Strongman competitor.

So, as they say, without further ado, I present your coach for this series (Part III of IV) of EliteFTS/MONSTER GARAGE GYM coaching logs….Kristin Johnson…….

“10. Supplementation

So far we've talked about the importance of nutrition and its vital role in your output for training. Now, let's talk supplements. Anyone can walk into their local supp store, ask an associate what they should be using, and they'll probably walk out with $300 of garbage. What has worked for me, for many years, is simple:

*all supplements are from Universal Nutrition
1. Protein: Ultra Whey Pro post-workout and Casein Pro at night.
2. Pre-workout: Shock Therapy-I train at 4:00 in the morning, caffeine is needed to get me started.
3. BCAAs: Juiced Aminos-to stimulate protein synthesis.
4. Multivitamin: Animal Pak

I make sure to always have these supplements at my disposal, even when traveling. The more consistent you are with your supplementation, the more results you'll see. I will say, however, there is not a "magic pill." These are SUPPLEMENTS, things that coincide with your consistent training and nutrition.

9. Training equipment

Belts, knee sleeves, knee wraps, elbow sleeves, wrist wraps, compression shorts, Oly shoes, flat shoes, grip shirts, tacky, tacky towels, chalk, the list goes on and on.

The more competing we do, the more we learn about what we need in order to be the best competitor we can be. If our competition has a belt that will help them pull one more rep more than me, I better have a belt on too. If wrist wraps will keep my wrists from collapsing under a log, I better get a nice firm pair. I've said this before, and I'll say it again, do not use something new on comp day that you haven't used in training! When you sign up for a show, make mental notes of what things you have and what you'll need in order to help you be successful, then train with them!

8. Programming research

Now that you've done a show or two, and you're looking to compete again, it's time to find a training program to bring out the all-around strength in you. Sticking with the typical gym bro program isn't going to work for us strength athletes. Sure, big biceps are cool, but throwing around huge Atlas Stones and deadlifting cars are way cooler anyway. Plus, traps are the new abs anyway. Squat a lot. Deadlift and press. A lot. Search for programs that will include event training days, as well as build your brute strength and speed.

7. Competing in shows with higher stakes

What do you want out of competing? Do you just do these for fun? Really think about where you would like to take yourself with this sport and target your show entries on what you want to do. If you want to work your way up and get a Pro Card, do Platinum Plus shows, shows that will get you to those professional-level qualifiers. If you compete for fun, that's great! Meet people, lift odd, heavy objects and be an all-around badass! I learned a lot when I thought I wanted to compete for fun, not to mention meeting some amazing people!

6. Study your competition

If and when you decide you want to compete at the higher-level shows, do some research on your competition. Once an athlete roster has been posted, use the power of social media to see any training videos of your competition. It may feel uncomfortable, I get it; but it is a complete advantage to know your competition's strengths and weaknesses. The tricky part here is more mental than anything. It is imperative to not fall into the trap of comparing ourselves to our competition. Personally, if I know I'm weak on an event and my biggest competition is strong on that event, I know I need to work that much harder to even be competitive on comp day. At the same time, if I feel confident on a certain event(s), I cannot neglect them in training just because I think, "oh, I got this." Once I get that over-confident feeling, I now know to knock myself down a few pegs, kick myself back to reality and continue to train my butt off, confident or not!”
Pro Strongwoman, Kristin Johnson

*Over the next three weeks we will cover the FIVE REMAINING tips Kristin has to offer.

Wishing you all the best in your training. You can follow Kristin Johnson’s strongman journey on your IG page: @thekristinj

Ever onward. Eric Maroscher: Monster Garage Gym

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MONSTER GARAGE GYM uses Universal Nutrition/Animal supplements and EliteFTS powerlifting equipment.

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