ReallyStrongNerds

This past weekend I competed in another Strongman Competition. I once again only had one other person in my division, and then was the only person for day 2 of the competition (I will explain that later). However, this person was someone I was very evenly matched with in terms of training, strength, etc. It was someone who I prepped for this comp with, as we train at the same gym. We were able to have somewhat of a friendly rivalry and push each other, and encourage one another to do really well. And that’s what Strongman is all about. Alright, Blog over see ya next time.

Jk

Overall I was very proud of my performance. Deadlifts felt great. The first half of my Yoke run felt great, however… the second half did not and I looked like Bambi. Which, is to be expected with heavy yokes. Unfortunately I did have one slip up in this competition: my first ever ZERO in Strongman. I have yet to zero an event in Strongman, and I was really, really pushing hard for that specific event all during prep. Mentally I was ready to go for a PR during the event. Unfortunately, I couldn’t even move the weight once, let alone 3 times as I was pushing for. However, after a couple minutes of sadness and self-deprecation, I got it out of my head and went out there and kicked ass for the rest of the competition.

I’m honestly glad though that I zero’d that event, because it reminded me that eventually, I was going to zero an event. And I’d rather it happen at a small local comp with 20 people, than somewhere like Nationals (which I qualified for, btw, and will be attending next year).

Moving forward to day 2, I got the opportunity to break records in an event specifically for record breaking. I ended up coming home with 4 state records, 2 in Deadlift, 2 in the Farmers Hold. I was super excited for this event and honestly, in reflection, If I could’ve qualified for Nationals only doing day 2, I would’ve done only day 2. In fact, I came up 40lbs short of my goal in the Deadlift, and about 10 seconds short of my goal in the Farmers Hold. That being said, having been fatigued from the day before, it kinda makes sense that myself and everyone else who competed on both days weren’t going to be able to hit a true 100%. I made the metaphor, “I’m giving it 100%, but today’s 100% is only going to be about 85-90%.” Which is very, very true when factoring in nervous system fatigue, muscle soreness, etc.

Here are a couple videos from the weekend:

And of course, last but not least, a picture of me channeling some Mark Felix energy:

This weekend was incredible. Some of my friends from the gym also competed in day 2 and in total, our gym broke 2 National Records Masters Deadlift and Open Axle Press. And 8 State Records – Masters 18 inch deadlift, Masters Farmers Hold, Open 198 Deadlift and Open 198 Farmers Hold. In two states as there were competitors from 2 states, with chairmen to verify from each state.

This weekend was incredible, and I’m very much looking forward to my next competition in June. 3 of the events have already been in my prep because they were either a part of this competition, or the comp I did 2 weeks ago. So, prep really hasn’t changed, other than some deadlift variation changes and press movement changes, which are the events that are changing for June. In June, I get the chance to compete for a qualification in Strongman Corp Nationals. I already qualified for USS Nationals, so I’m hoping 2026 can be the year that I get to do both!