Competed at the APF-AAPF Orlando Barbell Florida State Meet and won Best Female Raw Lifter: 297/181/352.5.
Current total: 830.5 at 132 lb BW
Qualified National Strongman competitor and will be competing in Nationals this coming October to qualify for The Arnold in 2016
I am here to live, learn, and pass on.
As I've mentioned before, I took most of the week off to really brainstorm and plan how my training will be for strongman prep, focusing on weak points and still using the Westside methods (Hi, Louie). Mind you, these are methods I'm talking about, not programming. I've never been a firm believer in a 12 week program that tells you to hit these exact numbers and to do these exact movements at this exact time because to me, each week varies. You have a lot of factors to take into consideration. I think it's important to have a base but what ever happened to just working hard and busting your ass? If you know what you're weak at and what you hate, you have to do just that to get stronger.
I got some really good feedback from a few teammates and my boyfriend, while still using what I know and what I learned from Randy (Idolmaker owner) and Mike (Battleaxe owner). What sat with me the most is when Clint Darden told me "As with everything, make sure that every rep of every exercise is getting you one step closer to your goals."
Layout (Base):
1. Core lifts - max effort (ranging from 3-6 RM) and dynamic effort ( Upper: 9x 3, Lower: 10 x 2)
2. Events - strongman events that would be done in competition. This will vary depending on the training day. So for max effort days, I would go lighter on the events focusing on technical work. Then on dynamic days, I will be working on more intense sets on the implements.
3. Event supplement - simulating a portion of strongman events
4. Accessories (for core lifts)
Primary bars I will be using:
SSB/Cambered bar/Rackable log/Fotball bar
Talking with Amy Wattles, she mentioned with strongman, you must develop a strong upper back. Alternating these bars (for upper and lower) in my training cycle will definitely help me develop a stronger back.
I know what I am not good at:
It's not being down on myself, it just means I have to work harder. I know that I am not so strong at (for now) DB presses, overhead presses and car deadlifts. So that means changing a few things in my training that will carry over to those events. This would include:
More incline presses, close grip presses, and floor presses to develop my shoulders and triceps, often using the fat grips. As far as the car deadlifts, I would use the trap bar, land mine, wheel barrow to simulate that event, just to name a few, going heavy for time or max reps. Overall, you want your work capacity to be at it's full potential -- have the ability to just "manhandle things" as Clint would say.
Since I am still pretty far from Nationals (October), Chase Karnes mentioned that as the contest gets closer, training would change going through different phases: off-season, training phase, and pre-competition/peak phase. So as competition gets closer, your training will vary as far as movements, intensity, deload, etc.
Here is a basic 5 week layout (core lifts) that focuses on my weak points and carry over to my strongman events, while still using the westside template:
Week 1:
MEL - SSB on a low box
DEL - Cambered bar with chains
DEU - Incline close grip fat bar with bands
MEU - Football bar floor presses
Week 2:
MEL - Block pulls
DEL - Cambered bar with chains
DEU - Incline close grip fat bar with bands
MEU - Low incline DB press (2 sets of max reps)
Week 3:
MEL - Reverse band cambered bar free squats
DEL - Close stance (high bar) with bands
DEU - Football bar incline with chains
MEU - Rackable log on a low incline
Week 4:
MEL - SSB low box with chains
DEL - Close stance (high bar) with bands
DEU - Football bar incline with chains
MEU - Fat bar floor presses
Week 5:
MEL - Rack pull with bands
DEL - Straight bar (free weights) wide stance
DEU - Straight bar close grip (free weights)
MEU - Football bar with chains (flat bench)
This layout is not in great detail and it's also not the bible. The only way I know if any of these movements will help me get better is through trial and error, but I am confident things will go well. I will post the event, supplementary movements, and accessory work I will be doing each training day as I go along.
Thank you for being a part of my journey. Suggestions and comments are always welcomed!