Participating in the monthly football booster meetings for my son's high school is something I look forward to. Not only am I off the hook for cooking dinner for the night and listening to the inevitable sibling arguing, I get to hang with the moms for a while. Sometimes we go out for ice cream or sometimes we just hang out in the parking lot and laugh. Somehow I have turned into a much cooler (and stronger) version of my mom despite my best efforts at unconventional.

It never fails at each meeting I sort of giggle to laugh at myself how I became a BOOSTER MOM? Really? I lift heavy things. I like to get dirty. I like simple. I like to compete. I love to win. But now, I do booster meetings and have ice cream with other moms. Who knew a chance encounter at the monthly booster meeting would turn into such a positive and fun experience?

A few months back another mom I was familiar with started chatting with us after the meeting. Our sons went to elementary school together so we made some chit chat about our boys. Then the official introductions came and after another mom shared my competitive background, she turned to me and said, “Hi! I’m Nickole and I am meant to pull trucks!”

Oh my gosh! Stuff like this NEVER happens! I tried not to look too eager or creepy and scare her away. Confession time…I’ve eye balled Nickole’s quads and calves in the past (in a totally legit way), thought she had some beef and wondered if she lifted. “Hi! My name’s Amy. I’ve been eye balling your legs for a while now and they look legit. Is there any chance you lift and/or like to lift heavy things?” Yeah, riiiiiight. That wouldn’t be awkward. AT ALL.

In less than five minutes Nickole agreed to compete at The Mecca’s Strongest Man competition this Saturday in the Novice Women’s division. Since Nickole was willing, I was her coach and together she would kick some serious bootay. Some important things I learned about Nickole pretty quickly: she was raised on a farm, she did some lifting in the past, she participates in boot camps consistently and pushes Prowler. Well-conditioned farm girl strength translates pretty well to strongman, so we were both excited.

Life got in the way and Nickole and I were only able to work together two times at our facility, Competitive Edge Athletic Performance Center and she attended one strongman session at The Mecca Gym. That session was Nickole’s first introduction to pressing, stones and most of the events.

The Events
Log/Axle Press - 1 minute, 60 seconds to clean and press each implement for max reps
Deadlift for Reps - 1 minute
Tire Flip - 60 ft, 90 seconds, fastest time wins
Farmer’s Walk – 60 ft, fastest time wins
Atlas Stone Over Bar – 1 minute for reps

Here’s a breakdown of my sessions with Nickole one month out from the competition

Session #1
The goal for this session was to establish a baseline of Nickole’s abilities, introduce and refine technique on each event and help open her mind to her true abilities. We worked through each event, except tire flip. I introduced Nickole to the event rules, wrist wraps, using a belt, chalk and she learned how to wrap her arms and use tacky. Nickole’s baseline strength was well above the novice weights. My advice to Nickole was that with such limited time, her strength would not significantly increase. We had control over her competency, speed and conditioning.

I pushed Nickole because I knew she could handle it. On several events due to equipment limitations, Nickole was doing events much heavier than she needed to at the competition. Nickole’s initial reaction was often, “I can’t,” to which my response was, “Yes, you absolutely can! Do it!” Attempting events for the first time can be a complete shock on the mind and body, not totally understanding how to process the information and overload. The result is to shut down. Nickole needed two attempts to prepare her mind and body and then she would exceed any expectation I had for her. She was impressive.
Since Nickole has a gym membership, her homework was on DL and press days to do 3-5 light sets of clean and press and deadlift for one minute each week . The goal was to learn timing, how her body responds to getting tired, learning how to grind through it, improve endurance and increase her overall event proficiency. She should not lift heavy but focus heavily on rolling, mobility and prowler pushes. She has a tire at home and I encouraged her to flip it with emphasis on appropriate technique.

Session #2
Again, summer life got in the way. Last week Nickole and I got together to review tire flip. We discussed driving into the tire, not deadlifting it up. We mistakenly started with the smallest tire, thinking that would be the one she was going to be flipping. She did one run for 60 feet in pretty solid time. Yeah, wrong tire. Soooo, we got to work on the correct tire. The initial reaction was how much heavier the second tire was. It probably was, but it was shaped so much better for tire flip, easing the stress and strain on her back. Nickole needed those trial flips to adjust her mind to the possibility. From there we mimicked the event and she was BLAZING! She came in much quicker on this set than the previous tire, thereby raising the bar for herself.

We also did a couple runs of competition weight farmer’s walk. Nickole’s speed is proving to be an asset to her and something she is getting comfortable with. We moved on to stones to get some rep work in. Nickole didn’t wrap her arms but got more work in with tacky. The biggest issue here was the tacky tearing at her arms from not wrapping. We spent time reviewing the flow of a competition, how event placements are determined, and each event to make sure she fully understood the expectations and how to be a competitor. She does.

Our second session was while we were approximately ten days out from the competition. My instructions were no more lifting past late last week (which should have been light if at all), continue to focus on rolling/mobility, and to stop her boot camp mid week this week to give her body a couple of days before the competition to rest. Lots of food, rest and hydration will be important coming into the competition.
Saturday is the big day! I am excited to watch Nickole push her boundaries and personal expectations far beyond what she ever thought possible.

If you’re in town, make sure to come on by The Mecca Gym on Saturday, July 16, 2016 to cheer her on! I’ll make sure to follow up her progress after she wins her division. (See what I did there, Nickole?)