Sat, 15 Aug 15
My usual trip to Charleston when I'm on vacation in SC had to take a hiatus this time around as Meathead Dream Team member Jeff Sweet was celebrating one year of wedded bliss with his shmoopy and three plus hours each way is quite a long drive to make just for training with no visitation of friends thrown in the mix. I have searched the internets before for places in and around Myrtle Beach that have strongman equipment to train with, but until this trip, my searches always came up empty. Thankfully, this time I found some potential in a crossfit gym in southern Myrtle Beach, almost in Surfside, that advertised that they had strongman training. Even better, their open gym hours were early on Saturday morning, which meant I could sneak off and train in the AM and still have time for sun, sand, and surf afterward. It turned out that CrossFit Vengeance was exactly what I was looking for. The elitefts 3x3 rack, GHR, and 45 degree hyper that greeted me when I walked in the door immediately let me know I had made a wise choice in my training grounds for the day. The owner, Scott Doane, was very friendly and helpful, in some cases providing answers to questions I hadn't even asked yet (like "how heavy is the log?"). He has a good selection of equipment, including a log, yoke, 2 sets of farmer's walk handles, atlas stones, tires, sandbags, fat bar, prowlers, and of course a poop ton of weights. I talked to him for a while after I finished up my training and he seems like a very knowledgeable coach, drawing upon both his formal education as well as a strong body of practical experience. He has competed in strongman, powerlifting, and crossfit so he practices what he preaches and even better he had two interns who were about to head off to college to major in exercise science so he is passing on his knowledge and skill in multiple areas of strength training and coaching. If you are in or near Myrtle Beach now or in the future, I strongly recommend making CF Vengeance your choice for training for any strength sports. As I told Scott when I was leaving, I will definitely be back again next time I'm down there.
Log C&J (clean once)
complex x 65
complex x 115
complex x 175
3x225
2x1x265
1x285
1x305 - Everything about this was fugly, but as it was a 10" log this was par for the course since I am significantly worse with the smaller diameter.
Farmer's Walk (100' with a turn @ 50')
100' x 110
100' x 200
100' x 250
100' x 280 - Up 10 lbs per hand from last time I did this and both the pick and speed felt much improved.
Atlas Stone Shouldering (tackyless, tapeless)
2x240
3x240
5x240 - This was a great stone that was very well sealed. Unfortunately for me, I was so sweaty that I was actually losing my grip on the stone. After the first set I went out to the car and got a beach towel to wipe down myself and the stone between reps. Each set felt better than the last, but I was starting to feel pretty done on the last set so that was the end of my training for the day. No need to go balls deep and eff myself up on vacation when my training is general and not yet specified for a competition.