ReallyStrongNerds

Currently, I’m 5 weeks out from my next Strongman Competition. I’m looking forward to this competition, as it’s at a very cool venue, and my girlfriend and I will be making a weekend trip out of it.

My current training block itself hasn’t changed too much, with the exception of: I’ve gotten rid of the extra deadlift accessory work on my press days. I’ve realized that with training all of my presses, along with carries on my press day, it’s really taking it out of me. And with the amount of carries, plus having a pull day and a squat/event day, I think it’s unnecessary at this point to train the deadlift a 3rd time of the week.

My current split is 3x a week, with the following:

Day 1: Press and Carries, usually a main press, followed by an accessory press, followed by 2 press related hypertrophy exercises, and ending the training session with a carry. Right now I’m focusing on the farmers carry, as that’s the carry in my next competition. However, once every other week I’m doing a sandbag or atlas stone carry instead.

Day 2: Pull day. This starts with an accessory press. More often than not, in Strongman we press before we deadlift, so, it makes sense to simulate that by starting with my accessory press prior to deadlifting. After that I hit Block pulls/Wagon wheel deadlifts. Once again, it’s a deadlift for reps event so I’m doing one week with a 3×3 at heavy weight, followed by a 30 second AMRAP. And the following week, 1 minute AMRAP with a weight just beneath the competition weight, and then a 30 second AMRAP slightly above the competition weight. This is then followed by Belt squats, as Belt squats are awesome, great to help both your squat and deadlift, and they take most of the pressure off of your back. Then I hit 1-2 hypertrophy exercises for the back, Pullups one week, Lat pulldowns the next, followed by some form of horizontal row (machine usually, but cables if they’re open). Then, I end it with 10 minutes of speed-walking on the treadmill. I find being able to walk fast is good for Strongman because, if you can’t walk fast without weight, you surely can’t walk fast with a 200lb sandbag on your chest or 400lbs dangling from your arms.

Day 3: Squat/Event Day: This day opens with another log press session, and is followed by a squat. Week one is the front squat, week 2 is the back squat. I do these beltless at a moderately heavy weight for sets of 6. Afterwards, I hit farmers walks again, followed by some work on the back extension. I like to start with weight, then, drop the weight and do a few more reps at bodyweight to really stretch out too. This is both a thing to help stimulate my muscles, AND stretch out and keep up some mobility. I think it’s a great way to incorporate both into your training sessions.

Here’s a video of some block pull/18 inch Deadlift work from last week:

Starting next week, I will be flipping my Pull and Press Days. So, it’ll be Pull Day, Press Day, Squat/Event Day.

I’ve essentially been in this training block since about April, the only difference is, I switched out the Barbell presses for a Log Press, and the sandbag carries with farmers carries instead, as those were the events in my previous competition. Basically the same structure, just flipping some of the implements really.

All in all, I’m feeling great. Today I hit the weight of the biggest log they’ll have for the press event for two singles. I attempted doubles both times, but could only get a single. The reason I’m going for the biggest log is, even if I only do 1-2 reps, it beats anyone who used any of the lighter logs. So I’d rather just go for a PR and hit 3 or 4 reps at that weight, then go down to the small log and put myself at a competitive disadvantage. Whether I win or lose, if I even hit 3 reps at that weight, it’ll be a PR. So I’ll be very satisfied.

I’m also in the process of a cut. I’ve been averaging about a 400 calorie deficit. My philosophy is, I’d rather lose the few pounds I need to to be in my weight class now, than water cut the week of. Overall, my strength is still there, as I’ve already lost 3lbs in just this past week, but I’m not losing weight in a rapid or unhealthy way. I’ve just simply maintained my protein intake, cut out almost all of the liquid calories, cut out a lot of the sugar and cut down a bit on the carbs. I’m also mostly going for the generally healthier carbs out there, such as: fruits, veggies, oats, and small servings of rice. Even just doing that for a week, by cutting out an average of 400 cals, I’m down 3 whole pounds. I only actually have to lose 2lbs to be in the weight class, but I’d ideally like to go down about 7lbs total, and just maintain that weight. That way, I won’t have to cut weight again later in the year for my powerlifting meet in November. On top of all of this, my birthday is coming up and guess what? I’ve done this weight cut properly enough that I can enjoy a couple pieces of cake and not lose all my progress. Overall, I’m approaching this cut very well and it’s working very good.