I will be competing at The Odd Haugen Northern California Strongman Challenge and Visegrip Viking Challenge on May 21 and 22, 2016. I am thrilled to be back to competing in strongman and finding my passion to train once again. My return to strongman isn't just about getting back into event training. It's also my return to dropping weight, becoming athletic once again, maintaining solid nutrition AND figuring out how to incorporate and maintain grip training in the mix. In the past that has not been possible and I generally go out in a big ball of flames. This time I'm optimistic.

A perfect storm is brewing and many different components of who I am as an athlete are changing and improving. Part of this process is reflecting on where I have been in order to catch you all up while continuing the inner strength to rebuild and compete at my best.

You can catch up on the first two installments of background information here,

Rebuilding: The Fat Doctor & Inevitable Decline

Rebuilding: The Fall Out

There is more to come on this entire process and more background and I hope you find value in some of the lessons and struggles I have experienced. Keep your eyes peeled for the third installment. Who knew I really had that much to say?

From 4/1/16

The day prior I squatted. And grip. And it felt AMAZING. The plan was to ease in, go light, assess the situation and just find my event training groove once again. I gotta admit, it felt pretty awesome.

Farmers
125, 4x50 ft

10" Log
80, 1x5
130, 1x5
150, 1x5

Yoke
225, 1x50 ft
315, 2x50 ft

Stone Load, No Tacky
170 x 2
OK, this was terrible but a starting point to continue moving forward.

Silver Bullet Gripper Hold W/COC 2

I used my 106 lb. RGC rated COC.
1x10 sec
1x22 sec
1x7 sec

Fat Block Pinch
1x35lbs
1x45 lbs
1x50 lbs PR!

Week 8 was a success and the pieces are coming together nicely. Events didn't wipe me out, my recovery was good and was able to get through all of that in 1 1/2 hours. That alone is a PR, since long, drawn out training sessions have been my M.O. the past few years. Feeling super excited to see improvements!