MarkKO's training log

[MarkKO]

Made it to Friday. I *felt* like my sleep last night was really good, the sleep score per my Galaxy Watch was only OK though. Worth noting. I may just have very, very low standards for sleep. I think having had reasonably bad apnea might have something to do with that.

Friday axle clean and press away
5x180 lbs, and thank you @Hardartery for the false grip tip. There's room for more there once I learn a bit better how to clean and time my leg drive.
10x136 lbs, 3x8x136 lbs
10, 6, 5, 6 pullups
4x5x60 lbs DB clean and press away with the fat handle alternating sets between arms
4x72 lbs left, missed fifth and 5x72 lbs right DB clean and press away. Also more room here, at least on the right. I need to get my elbow higher though I think.
3x10x132 lbs T-bar rows
7x80 lbs, 8x60 lbs, 10x40 lbs, 25x20 lbs tricep pushdowns with failure on rep 26. The MMC was actually great across all sets, which is excellent.
3x35 facepulls
2 per side 132 lbs sandbag to shoulder
2 per side 165 lbs lbs sandbag to shoulder
1 per side 187 lbs sandbag to shoulder
50 steps x 264 lbs sandbag. The lengthwise pick and carry is getting 'easier. Also, having picked up the 308 lbs bag makes the 264 lbs feel less terrible.



This was a good idea. I'll be interested to see how log goes next week.

[MarkKO]

Managed a good sleep last night AND a nap after work yesterday so that should be well on the way to setting me up better for next week. I also noticed that the sleep tracking on the Galaxy Watch seems to think that I go to bed and get up later than I actually do, by about 30 to 45 minutes. This is odd, especially the getting up part.

Anyway, I'm going to do something I effectively swore I wouldn't ever do which is try to make powerlifting and strongman work together. I have no idea whether it will work, but I think it should - just about.

Monday and Wednesday stay as bench and squat/DL with sandbag carries and limited sandbag to shoulder at the end of Monday. Friday stays as a second upper day except instead of a bench variation as the main lift, there is a press (which I posted about recently being axle and log varying from week to week) and DB clean and press comes in as an assistance movement for technique work more than anything else. Sandbag to shoulder and carries stay at the end as well. How well this will drive my bench I have zero idea, but it certainly won't hurt it. Pressing never has, and is something that my shoulders have always liked. In the long and medium term having happy shoulders will always help my bench anyway.

Really I'm repeating myself (which you'll be used to if you come here regularly). The main 'new' part is that I've picked a strongman competition to do. The date is almost certainly going to be January 29th, which puts it eight weeks to the day before my next meet. I think this should be manageable, just about. It puts the strongman competition right before a scheduled deload week in block four. Following that deload week there is just one week before peak starts. I hadn't decided how I was going to deal with that but I was considering extending block four by a week to place the deload immediately prior to the first week of peak. Having the strongman competition at the tail end of week four somewhat fits with this, or at least shouldn't throw everything off.

I talked to Mark about peaking for strongman and he said that really it just means some four to eight weeks out getting very specific with events. The way I'm looking at it has Friday becoming more event specific, although depending on the events it may well work out better to spread them across the week. It'll depend entirely on the events.

My completely uneducated guess is that there will be somewhere between four and six events and will probably include some kind of press, some kind of carry, come kind of deadlift, some kind of pull and/or drag and quite probably some kind of loading event.

The sandbag carries I'm already doing I would imagine will go some way towards preparing me for the carry and loading events. Ditto the pressing on Fridays should prepare me reasonably well for whatever pressing I'll need to do. The deadlifts, well, obviously deadlifts every Wednesday will be covering. If there is a yoke of any kind, I'm going to go ahead and hope squat walkouts will go some limited way to preparing me in respect of stability.

Once I know what the actual events are, I can work specific event work in. What I'll need to be careful of is that block four is when my squat and bench intensity goes up in preparation for peak, although only on alternating weeks. So really what will probably work well would be to offset event work load with this. The weeks bench and squat are heavy, event work would be lighter but done to work technique and get familiar with the event. The week bench and squat are lighter, event work would be heavier.

[Hardartery]

Strongman training is PL training tweaked with some event stuff thrown in. BP becomes an accessory instead of a main lift (It helps a lot on Log Lift though) and you don't push for max unless you know for sure that there is an event for max. Generally, you are better off being able to to 10 reps with something heavy than 1 with something moderately heavier, unless the event is for max. For example, if I know there is DL for reps with 500 lbs, I'll do 5 x 5 with that weight or slightly more leading up to the contest and rely on the conditioning stuff (Sandbag carries or other Medly/Loading training) to let me rep out at the contest. I would not go out of my way to try and AMRAP within the contest time constraints ahead of time, it just burns you out. You will have to fight the urge to blend things too much. Let the conditioning condition you, let the lifting increase strength, keep them separate or your recovery will tank.

[MarkKO]

Strongman training is PL training tweaked with some event stuff thrown in. BP becomes an accessory instead of a main lift (It helps a lot on Log Lift though) and you don't push for max unless you know for sure that there is an event for max. Generally, you are better off being able to to 10 reps with something heavy than 1 with something moderately heavier, unless the event is for max. For example, if I know there is DL for reps with 500 lbs, I'll do 5 x 5 with that weight or slightly more leading up to the contest and rely on the conditioning stuff (Sandbag carries or other Medly/Loading training) to let me rep out at the contest. I would not go out of my way to try and AMRAP within the contest time constraints ahead of time, it just burns you out. You will have to fight the urge to blend things too much. Let the conditioning condition you, let the lifting increase strength, keep them separate or your recovery will tank.

Thanks for that perspective. It actually supports what I thought I could manage which helps a ton coming from someone with experience.

My work capacity is reasonable, I think, so hopefully just doing the sandbag carries regularly as I'm doing will prepare me reasonably well for whatever loading or carries I need to do. I should know the events within a week or so which will let me plan the block leading up to the competition better.

One thing I do need to do is work on my cleans. I need to learn how to continental, as I think past maybe 200 lbs it'll likely be necessary.

[MarkKO]

Monday of week four of block two. My sleep score was super good, yet I woke feeling like my heart was racing (it wasn't, but it sure felt like it) so I'm starting to get somewhat sceptical about the whole sleep score thing. Which means precisely nothing. At any rate, I was moving slow at work and when I got to the gym my focus just died in the arse (note for Americans: a phrase that means stopped working).

Monday bench
4x2x253 lbs, 10x253 lbs with a real fight for the 10th but hey, I got it. As if I needed any further evidence of the JM presses doing a great job
8, 8, 9 pullups and in fairness my rest between sets was longer, so there's that
10x132 lbs, 2x8x132 lbs JM press off pins
2x15x132 lbs T-bar rows
2x15, 21x15x3 chains per side chain flys with failure on rep 22
2x50 facepulls
50 steps x 264 lbs sandbag, vertical carry because I couldn't get it lengthwise today. Did maybe three per side sandbag to shoulder with the 165 lbs bag prior

[MarkKO]

Apparently my BP dropped suddenly this morning at work. I say apparently because all I knew was I felt fuzzy in the head and then my chest tightened up and my hands, legs and lips started tingling which scared the crap out of me. Turns out symptoms like that get you seen FAST at the walk in centre.

Anyway, once I realised I wasn't going to cark it then and there I went to my GP who is a smart, smart guy and he explained that what actually happened is that my BP dropped making me feel faint and when I took a bunch of deep breaths to recover that screwed with my CO2 levels which made my blood alkaline which led to the tingling which then led to a panic attack.

So that was a fun day.

No idea why I suddenly got a drop in BP but I know what to do if it happens.

I'm probably just run down. Ill do no overtime at work this week, at any rate.

[slowmotion]

Sounds scary! Good thing you're ok, tho.

[JohnHelton]

Glad you are okay.

[Hardartery]

Apparently my BP dropped suddenly this morning at work. I say apparently because all I knew was I felt fuzzy in the head and then my chest tightened up and my hands, legs and lips started tingling which scared the crap out of me. Turns out symptoms like that get you seen FAST at the walk in centre.

Anyway, once I realised I wasn't going to cark it then and there I went to my GP who is a smart, smart guy and he explained that what actually happened is that my BP dropped making me feel faint and when I took a bunch of deep breaths to recover that screwed with my CO2 levels which made my blood alkaline which led to the tingling which then led to a panic attack.

So that was a fun day.

No idea why I suddenly got a drop in BP but I know what to do if it happens.

I'm probably just run down. Ill do no overtime at work this week, at any rate.

If it's a one off then whatever. If it becomes a thing they'll probably stick you on a carry around heart monitor to see what's going on. My last training partner (This was a long time ago now) would be just standing there talking and then hit the ground. It turned out his HR was tanking down to less than 10 BPM. They ended up putting in a pacemaker and end of problem. His body used the leads to signal the heart muscle and the actual pacemaker never kicks on (It's bluetooth and they can check that stuff remotely). Of course, in his case we are pretty certain it was the large doses of aromatase inhibitors he was taking to counteract his cycle. Either way, these days it's not a big deal to find and fix this kind of thing.

[MarkKO]

@Hardartery @slowmotion @JohnHelton thanks, no harm no foul I guess.

My GP seemed pretty unconcerned and that makes me feel better because he is no fool. He knows I lift weights, and he said look, you're stress testing your heart a couple of times a week so I'm not worried. If there was an issue you'd know.

I'll keep an eye out though, just in case. I had this shit happen once before about six months ago when I had the plague, but because of isolation and stuff I didn't see my GP so didn't get the explanation. My best guess is that this happens when I'm run down.

[MarkKO]

Hooo boy do I feel flat today. What a surprise.

I decided to shift my pressing day to today because call me stupid but 10 second rests for squats followed by deadlifts against bands seemed like a bad idea after yesterday.

Wednesday log clean and press away
1x187 lbs, couldn't get the second
3x187 lbs, for some reason way easier
1x187 lbs which took me to the five reps I expected to get in one set
2x8x143 lbs which was enough for today
8, 6, 6, 5 pullups
5x60 lbs per side DB clean and press away
2x70 DB clean and press away on the left, four on the right
5x65 lbs DB clean and press away on the left, six on the right

I figured I'd quit while I was ahead and left it there

[Hardartery]

@Hardartery @slowmotion @JohnHelton thanks, no harm no foul I guess.

My GP seemed pretty unconcerned and that makes me feel better because he is no fool. He knows I lift weights, and he said look, you're stress testing your heart a couple of times a week so I'm not worried. If there was an issue you'd know.

I'll keep an eye out though, just in case. I had this shit happen once before about six months ago when I had the plague, but because of isolation and stuff I didn't see my GP so didn't get the explanation. My best guess is that this happens when I'm run down.

Panic attacks are rough thing, my wife gets them. It can be a Vagus Nerve thing too, people get weird stuff with no evident physical cause. It's just hard to reason with yourself in the middle of the event.

[Hardartery]

Hooo boy do I feel flat today. What a surprise.

I decided to shift my pressing day to today because call me stupid but 10 second rests for squats followed by deadlifts against bands seemed like a bad idea after yesterday.

Wednesday log clean and press away
1x187 lbs, couldn't get the second
3x187 lbs, for some reason way easier
1x187 lbs which took me to the five reps I expected to get in one set
2x8x143 lbs which was enough for today
8, 6, 6, 5 pullups
5x60 lbs per side DB clean and press away
2x70 DB clean and press away on the left, four on the right
5x65 lbs DB clean and press away on the left, six on the right

I figured I'd quit while I was ahead and left it there

Dp some of the Log Press strict. Not the heavy sets, but do some backoffs strict. It helps get you comfortable with the implement, and you look a little uncomfortable with it racked. The clean looks good though, you have it noce and high around the top of the abs which is good.

[MarkKO]

@Hardartery @slowmotion @JohnHelton thanks, no harm no foul I guess.

My GP seemed pretty unconcerned and that makes me feel better because he is no fool. He knows I lift weights, and he said look, you're stress testing your heart a couple of times a week so I'm not worried. If there was an issue you'd know.

I'll keep an eye out though, just in case. I had this shit happen once before about six months ago when I had the plague, but because of isolation and stuff I didn't see my GP so didn't get the explanation. My best guess is that this happens when I'm run down.

Panic attacks are rough thing, my wife gets them. It can be a Vagus Nerve thing too, people get weird stuff with no evident physical cause. It's just hard to reason with yourself in the middle of the event.

Certainly not on my list of enjoyable experiences. It helps to know though. My doc put it quite well (I thought) when he asked me how many of the panic attacks I've had have killed me or never ended.

[MarkKO]

Hooo boy do I feel flat today. What a surprise.

I decided to shift my pressing day to today because call me stupid but 10 second rests for squats followed by deadlifts against bands seemed like a bad idea after yesterday.

Wednesday log clean and press away
1x187 lbs, couldn't get the second
3x187 lbs, for some reason way easier
1x187 lbs which took me to the five reps I expected to get in one set
2x8x143 lbs which was enough for today
8, 6, 6, 5 pullups
5x60 lbs per side DB clean and press away
2x70 DB clean and press away on the left, four on the right
5x65 lbs DB clean and press away on the left, six on the right

I figured I'd quit while I was ahead and left it there

Dp some of the Log Press strict. Not the heavy sets, but do some backoffs strict. It helps get you comfortable with the implement, and you look a little uncomfortable with it racked. The clean looks good though, you have it noce and high around the top of the abs which is good.

Noted, thank you.

I shall do this.

[MarkKO]

Ok, Friday. Still feeling very flat. I think I am fighting a cold or flu. Yesterday was fucked, I was dopey as hell at work and my throat felt iffy until the evening. Today was just tired as all hell.

Friday SSB squat
3x5, 2x281 lbs with 10 second rests between sets. I lost all mental focus at that double and racked the bar.
About a minute rest
2x5x281 lbs with 10 second rests between sets
5x3x374 lbs DL on stiff bar against mini bands in six minutes and four seconds and I'm kind of pissed (but not very) because if I'd paid attention I'd have gotten them in under five.
2x35x308 lbs, 25x308 lbs reverse hyper
2x25x44 lbs air squats done as Hatfield squats
15x44 lbs, 10x44 lbs walking lunges



I pulled the pin early again because I figured it was smarter. Then I went and fucked around with the farmers walk handles adding 44 lbs plates until I couldn't walk with them. I may have figured wrong about being smart. I topped out at four plates each side, six plates I could *just* pick up but not hold on to long enough to walk. I'm fairly sure 220 lbs per side would be doable if I was fresher.

Anyway, that's week four done and next week is deload and not a week too soon.

[MarkKO]

Woke up with a sore-ish throat today. I saw sore-ish because unfortunately I became quite the connoisseur of sore throat as a child and honestly, it remains my least favourite ailment. At any rate, it isn't right but I'm hoping it doesn't go into full blown tonsillitis because I don't need that kind of negativity in my life.

It's deload so this is less of an issue than it might otherwise be.

Monday bench
5x3x204 lbs which I decided to do with 10 second rests and really it wasn't super hard. Also wrapless.
11, 5 pullups
50, 75 facepulls
3/side x 132 lbs sandbag to shoulder
2/side x 165 lbs sandbag to shoulder
1/side x 187 lbs sandbag to shoulder
1x220 lbs sandbag to right shoulder after a miss
2x0x220 lbs sandbag to left shoulder

I did carry the 165 and 187 lbs about 25 metres between sets but that was easy

I also briefly toyed with the idea of carrying the 264 lbs bag a bit but remembered it is deload

[MarkKO]

There has been a change in the strongman competition schedule, so I am doing one in May eight weeks AFTER my meet. This works out significantly better, because I don't have to juggle a strongman competition a couple of weeks before peaking.

[MarkKO]

This is a very rough draft of how I'm looking at the eight weeks leading into the strongman competition in May. I've been told there will be five events, but what they are remains to be decided.

Depending on events I figure I'll go one static, one moving Mon/Wed. Friday is whichever fits. I would guess my best bet is to, where possible, pair up events that are different from each other.

The progression only covers the events. Assistance will remain much the same as it is now, except bench and squat will be shifted into assistance slots just to keep in practice. The first three weeks I won't squat or bench at all, as I normally don't after a meet.

Really the only difference to how I train for powerlifting is that the first one or two exercises of the day are the events. How I set the assistance up and what the assistance is remains nearly identical since its role is to build muscle.

Progression
Weeks one and two keep same load, around 50% event weight. Reps/distance also around 50% of event reps/distance just for technique and feel and to rebuild work capacity

Week three
60% weight/reps/distance

Week four
70% weight/reps/distance

Week five
80% weight/reps/distance
Assistance reduces by 25%

Week six
90% weight/reps/distance
Assistance reduces by 50%

Week seven
80% weight/reps/distance
Assistance remains at 50% volume

Week eight (competition on Sunday)
Monday events 1/2/3 for light technique work
Wednesday events 4/5 for light technique work
No assistance

[Hardartery]

This is a very rough draft of how I'm looking at the eight weeks leading into the strongman competition in May. I've been told there will be five events, but what they are remains to be decided.

Depending on events I figure I'll go one static, one moving Mon/Wed. Friday is whichever fits. I would guess my best bet is to, where possible, pair up events that are different from each other.

The progression only covers the events. Assistance will remain much the same as it is now, except bench and squat will be shifted into assistance slots just to keep in practice. The first three weeks I won't squat or bench at all, as I normally don't after a meet.

Really the only difference to how I train for powerlifting is that the first one or two exercises of the day are the events. How I set the assistance up and what the assistance is remains nearly identical since its role is to build muscle.

Progression
Weeks one and two keep same load, around 50% event weight. Reps/distance also around 50% of event reps/distance just for technique and feel and to rebuild work capacity

Week three
60% weight/reps/distance

Week four
70% weight/reps/distance

Week five
80% weight/reps/distance
Assistance reduces by 25%

Week six
90% weight/reps/distance
Assistance reduces by 50%

Week seven
80% weight/reps/distance
Assistance remains at 50% volume

Week eight (competition on Sunday)
Monday events 1/2/3 for light technique work
Wednesday events 4/5 for light technique work
No assistance

Roughly speaking all Strongman contests are the same thing. If it's set up correctly (Some promoters don't seem to know that there is actually a formula), there is an event to test back strengthm there is an event to test grip, there is an event to test anaerobic endurance/speed with weight, there is an event to test legs, and there's an event to test shoulders/pressing power. This translates to some sort of Deadlift (Sometimes Stones in whatever form take this slot), a Farmer's Walk or Hercules Hold or something in that vein, a Medley/Loading event, a Stone Circle (Conan's Wheel if you use the popular but incorrect term) or Squat variation, some sort of Press like Viking or Log or Axle or DB...you get the idea. The formula is to provide an overall test of all basic attributes. The fine details are skill on the specific event and ability to handle the contest weight.
That all being said, you should be working with higher volume and hopefully at least the equivalent weights in training. Higher volume because you are splitting training up over multiple days of the week, but in the contest it's all happening right now today so you want your body to be expecting more and thus recover faster on contest day than on training days. And honestly, if you can't get at least one rep with contest weight your conditining is meaningless. So, generally the training structure is based around core strength and then you adjust for specific events when you get them. Knowing the events should really only be about refining technique going into the contest, not about building specific strength in the event. So working the contest weights and pushing the rep limit or speed of [erformance usually is the way to go.