Finding Out that the Iron Never Lies

[bustermonkey2]

June 21 2013
Bodyweight @ 220 lbs

Squats @ 397 lbs- 3 PR. A little tough but not too bad.
Squats x 5 @ 360 lbs-2 sets. Pretty tough and tiring by 2nd set.

Deadlift @ 445 lbs- 3. This was tough and pretty grindy on 3rd rep. I did feel pretty fatigued after squats. I am getting close here to PR territory again as 450 is my 3 rep pr.

I skipped the deadlift backoff set.

[bustermonkey2]

June 25 2013

Bench @ 317 lbs- 2. Fail as I wanted 3. I didn't get a good chance on 3rd rep though due to spotter grabbing it too quick despite my telling him not to take it unless it was coming back down.

Bench @ 285 lbs- 3,3,3. These felt very heavy. Last week I did 2 sets of 5 @ 280 lbs.

Push Press @ 195 lbs- 3 PR, 2. Pretty tough. I couldn't quite lock out 2nd rep on 2nd set but did 3rd rep fine. I haven't been counting push press prs until now because I don';t see how you can count a push press lift that is equal to or less than your press pr's.

Chins w/ 45 lbs- 5,5. Some kipping 2nd set.

Dips w/ 90 lbs- 10, 5. Getting tired by 2nd set was was going too low so stopped.

Hang. Leg Raises- 8,8.

Situps with 25 lbs- 10,5. Tired by this point.

[bustermonkey2]

June 29 2013

Sandbag carry with 165 lbs- 2 60' runs. Pretty tough

Sled drag w/ 180 lbs plus sled- 35' Tough- it was on a sidewalk so lots of friction.

Sled drag with harness- 180 lbs plus sled- 2 60' pulls- very tough

Farmers walk with 195 lbs- 2 60' runs back to back. Tough.

[bustermonkey2]

July 3 2012
Bodyweight 218 lbs

Bench @ 317 lbs- 2. Fail-as I wanted 3 for 3rd week in a row. I'm not getting enough training stimulus on bench right now. I will reprogram after strongman event in 3 weeks.
Bench @ 285 lbs- 3.
Bench @ 275 lbs- 4. I was pretty frustrated by this point as I was doing 3 sets of 5 at this weight a few weeks ago.

Squats @ 400 lbs- 3. PR. This was actually of- not bad at all.
Squat @ 358 lbs-5. This was a loading mistake as I forgot to put a 2 lb weight on 1 side.
Squat @ 360 lbs- 5. A little tough as I was getting tired by this point.

Deadlifts @ 355 lbs- 3. PR. Pretty tough-Tough as last rep was slow but not a real grinder. I had told myself I'd skip backoff set if I hit a pr which seemed to motivate me a bit.

I'm actually doing better on squats/deadlifts with less volume right now. Having said that, I clearly need more bench work. I'll probably redo Texas method starting after strongman contest on July 20.

[Róbert Kovács]

Congrats on the PRs, but I'm pretty sure you mean a set of 455lbs deadlift.

[Róbert Kovács]

Also, as you've mentioned, you only squat like once a week? One top set of 3 and two back off sets of five? What has changed in your opinion? Previously you needed at least two squat sessions a week. Did the weight get large enough finally for it to be an adequate stress, or is there something else to it?

[bustermonkey2]

Whoops- you're right about the deadlift PR- it was 455 lbs for 3. I am only doing squats at this point about 1 time every 8-9 days. I had to change up my programming to fit in strongman stuff at least one day per week. As such, I figured I could only really squat and bench once per week in order to be fully recovered 4-5 days later for strongman stuff. I fully expected that squats and bench would stay the same or slightly regress based on lack of volume. Interestingly, my squat has continued to go up and still feels like I've got more room for improvement with only the one top set of 3 with 2 backoff sets. Bench on the other hand is feeling stagnant. On squats, I think that I'm getting enough extra work from farmers walk and sled drags to assist on the very low volume. After strongman implement day, my legs and back are very sore. But it could also be that the higher weights on squat are enough. I'm not really sure.

As soon as I get done with the strongman contest I'm going to go back to Texas methd before my next meet in October. However, I'm going to try a 4 day setup as follows:

Monday- Volume Squats 2 sets of 5, then 1 set of isos or 1 set of jump squats, Deadlifts- 1 set of 2-3
Tuesday- Volume Bench 2 sets of 5, then 1 set of isos or 1 set of speed bench, Dips, Hang leg Raises
Wednesday- Push Press 3 sets of 5, Chins, Weighted Situps
Friday- Intensity Bench- 1 set of 2-3,Intensity Squat- 1 set of 2-3.

However- although I've broken it down into a week it will be more likely to take 9-10 days to get through a cycle to ensure recovery. I've really noticed how important recovery is to me since adding strongman stuff.

[bustermonkey2]

July 8 2013

Farmers Walk w/ 205 lbs- 2 60' runs. Very hard- had to put it down one extra time. At this point I'm just above competition weight of 203 lbs but really could use an extra 2-3 months of strongman training. Unfortunately the meet is on July 20.

Sandbag w/ 165 lbs- 2 70' runs. Tough- I'm still not getting a good grip initially about 1/2 the time.

Sled drag w/ 190 lbs- 2 35' runs. Pretty tough.

Sled drag with harness @ 240 lbs. 2 35' runs. Tough.

I really need several more months to be ready for this contest in 12 days. I'll just have to treat this 1st strongman comp as a learning experience- just like my 1st powerlifting comp.

[Róbert Kovács]

Just wondering, what kind of shoes are you using for farmer walks, and strongman training in general?

Good luck with the contest by the way, even though you don't feel prepared, I'm sure it will be an interesting experience.

[jenica]

It seems like the first contest of anything should be for experience and FUN. There will inevitably be more experienced competitors that will have and edge by that fact alone. Of course you should bust ass to perform as well as you can, but don't get down if you don't win or place. If you like it, you have time to keep getting better and more competitive. If you decide PLing is what you'd rather do, that's cool too. Just my $0.02

In any event, good luck on the next few weeks of training and at the contest!