new to strongman

[Patrick McGuffin]

yesterday was my first strongman contest ever and even though i did horribly i think i am hooked. now its time to start training for next year so that i can run with the big boys , so any advice would be good

[Chris Lee]

hey bro, you're talking about the Iron Bear, right? if so, you did good man, you're only 16, and it was your first competition, there is tons of room for improvement. just having the balls to get out there and compete (especially when you're 16, have to miss prom, and travel to a different state) is a huge part of it. advice is kinda hard to give at the moment, because it looks like you're already in a good position mentally, given you had the motivation to compete already (i find that's one of the biggest hurdles for a lot of people to overcome). so post some info on what your training and diet looks like. this forum is a very good source of information, you should be able to find any help you need here.

[Jamie T]

patrick..It was cool to meet you yesterday.. you swam with the sharks yesterday and didn't get eaten(totally) haha.... as far as training advice.. we all learned something from you.. you were in over your head but didn't give up at all....it is that heart that will make you a good competitor.. be proud of yourself and keep training..good work

Jamie

[MarshallWhite]

i agree with everyone else you did a fantastic job. now it is just a matter of refining what you already have. congrats!

[Jesse Marunde]

dude, you did better than any one else would have done at age 16. Shoot you did damn good come to think of it! Stick with it man you could really end up being amazingly strong.

Jesse

PS- If I was your mama I'd tell you it's time for a haircut! haha ;)

[Patrick McGuffin]

whats wrong with my hair (i mean other than the fact that i look like a hobo)????? :confused:

ps- thanx for the nice comments

[Patrick McGuffin]

anyone know how wide the grip in the log is??? the sooner i make one the sooner i can start training, and where can you find stones??? :confused: and as for diet and training, chris, nothing out of the ordinary, i lift weights three days a week doing normal lifts like bp, dl, squats, curls, stuff like that along with moderate cardio( working on loosing weight),
as for diet, it all depends on how much self control i have that month, when im on a diet its six meals a day, portion of carbs and a portion of protien along with veggies ( helped me loose 40lbs so far, 232 exactly) :)

[Chris Lee]

well, as far as stones go, jesse makes them, and has been known to do long distance deliveries, but you'll have to talk to him about that. there are also lots of tutorials on how to make your own on the internet. a quick substitution would be to just buy a few 40 lbs sandbags and duct tape them together. diet should definitely be a big priority for you, and for most people that's the hardest part. the fun part is lifting, and making progress, hands on kinda stuff, what you do out of the weight room (or the event course) is the hard part. as far as your training goes, i wouldn't worry very much about bench press (unless you plan on competing in pl'ing also) and would drop that in exchange for standing overhead pressing, possibly incline, and possibly close grip on a flat bench. curls generally arent needed either, unless you really feel they need to be in there, otherwise most of your back work can take care of the bicep training.

on a side note, i heard about you weighing in at 232 at the contest, that sucks man. on the bright side, you still did great, and i suppose that extra pound can just serve as motivation for next time.

[Patrick McGuffin]

i do inclines with 90x2 and do 3 sets of 12, that help? that and bent over rows, hi pulls and sometimes standing military presses,any tips on staying motivated as far as diet?? oh and i was looking at the video of you dead lifting , how much do you weigh?

[Jesse Marunde]

just so every one knows, the weight class Pat was trying to get in was 231 and under, so weighing in at 232 put him in the 265 class! but he still did awesome.

Ya Pat I make stones and I'd be glad to hook you up. You're best bet would probably be to come down and train with us on a Saturday and take a rock home with you.

You will make much faster progress when your eating is dialed in. Write down all your lifts in your journal and make nots of how your eating has been going. You will see a direct correlation between success in the gym and good eating. That's where I get my motivation from!

Jesse

[Chris Lee]

haha, that video of me deadlifting is kinda embarassing. that was from reno, a few days after we finished our football season (which dropped about 10 lbs off me) and at the peak of one of the worst viruses i've had in my life, which ended up dropping me down to barely 170 lbs with all my clothes on, and after eating at an all you can eat buffet. as of right now i'm about 190 lbs, and deadlift 455 lbs, so as you can see, that video is pretty much irrelevant. as far as motivation for diet, i completely agree with what jesse said. for me, i have to eat well over 5,000 calories a day to see optimal gains, and would probably benefit from more. i was eating 6,000 a day for a while, but could only keep it up for a couple weeks. you are on the opposite end of the spectrum, in that you're trying to lose weight. i've never really been in that position myself, i've always been a pretty scrawny kid, but nonetheless, the fact still remains that a good diet will provide great results. it will enhance all the effort you put in in the weight room by a ton. i definitely think you should come up here and train with us on a saturday sometime, it would be nice to have someone younger than me out there for once, haha.

[Patrick McGuffin]

dang!!!!! 455 at 190!!!!! i'd be lucky if i got up 405 and i out weigh you by 42 pounds! :eek: any way , as of today i'm back on a diet , how do you stay lean while still eating 5000 calories a day :confused: even with exercising im lucky not to gain weight on a 2500 calorie diet (and thats fat) :o any way, tired of being the runt or something??? :D i would love to come and train but right now i have no idea how i would get up there, but if i find a way that would be awesome!!!!! i am already trying to get one of my friends to go with me next year, the guy is 17, is 6'5" tall and a lean 280 (scary). we statred a new phase in my weight lifting class and it does not have any big lifts like dl, squats, or shoulder press type movements so i will probably be going in and lifting before school too.



Ps. (jesse) would it cost much (or any?)

[Jesse Marunde]

everyone contributes in some way Pat. We're a tight group. You're 16, just getting down here for a workout might be all we ask. We'll get serious about figuring something out when you're serious about coming down.

[Patrick McGuffin]

strongman is the coolest sport in the world!!!!!! where else am i going to such a nie group of people who are actualy willing to help me out without any reward for themselves! you guys kick @*$

[Patrick McGuffin]

This is Pats mom, I just want to thank you for giving Pat the encouragement he needs, and making him feel its worth the work. I do encourage him to have his hair cut but no success so far. We had a good day and I will see about getting him up there sometime soon. Thanks again Jakki McGuffin

[Patrick McGuffin]

um yeah.... that was my mom..... um :o

[Grant Higa]

Pat,
If you ever need help with workouts, I used to live in Corvallis before moving to Washington. I have a few friends that work out at Gold's Gym-Corvallis that can possibly help you out.

Go Beavers!
HIGA.

[Chris Lee]

thanks for the ego boost man, but 455 is far from anything special. we could get you well past 405 too. by the time you're my age (just turned 18) you could be well past 500. thats my next goal, i got WABDL nat's comin up in august, so i wanna get my DL up to 500 for that. as for you're training, most PE classes are a joke for athletic/strength training. if i were you i would probably drop the class (unless you need it to graduate) or try to half-ass it as long as it doesnt affect your grade, and then begin a serious program outside of school hours. the thing about PE classes is that for 1, a large majority of the teachers don't know the first thing about strength training, 2, the teachers are required to have a curriculum that is doable by everyone and focused just on health and fitness, and 3, the teachers have to look over an entire class, so even if it is a good program, they can't often give individual attention. i can help you get going on something a little more strength oriented if you'd like. it would also help a lot of if you can get some videos of yourself lifting for technique critiquing.

how do i stay lean on 5000 cals a day? a ridiculously fast metabolism. thats pretty much it. i've always had to fight for every pound i gain.

as far as possible payment for some training (and you'll have to run this by jesse, because in the end it comes down to what he decides) i would bet that you could get by with just buying a stone from jess ;)

[Jesse Marunde]

haha Pat's mom came on the board and embaressed him! hehe

Jakki, hello and I hope to meet you some day! You are of course more than welcome and invited to come to Sequim with Pat if it is ever possible for him to make the trip. We always BBQ big, so we'll feed yall up real good.

Pat, it is way cool to have family support bro. I could not do what I'm doing without my mom, dad, grandparents, brothers, sis, wife and friends. I have a strong network at home that keeps me going even stronger. I hope you apreciate your mom's encouragement, it's really important.

stay strong!

Jesse

PS- I'd get ahold of Grants buds at Gold's if I was you. Those guys could really help you out big time.

[Patrick McGuffin]

i envy your motablism,haha! 455 is to something if you have been going to big contests because of it! anyway as far as the class, it was designed for football, so its not quite that bad but if im able to wake myself up in the morning,one of the coaches will help me as far as heavy lifting and stuff (help improve my dl , squat and other large lifts)our school has a few good powerlifters one even took first at state (455lb deadlift from someone who comes up to my nose)

[Patrick McGuffin]

grant, you used to live in corvallis? cool, so do you know were lebanon is?? if so i feel sorry you ever had to be there. anyways some time this week i was going to find out how much a bus up there would cost, and if it isnt to much i might do things that way(but i dont think they would allow me to take a stone) as for diet i am consumig around 200 grams of protien and 300 grams of carbs you think thats enough? it would be cool to find out about you friends in corvallis(grant) i might also get a larger tire some time soon, right now i have one thats aboot 400lbs

[Grant Higa]

Yes, I lived there from 95-98 before I moved to WA state. My wife graduated from there too.
Been through Lebanon/Sweet Home lots...used to drive 11 Western State for a moving company out of Corvallis.
If Greyhound doesn't work, look into Amtrak. You can catch it from Albany to Seattle. Usually costs $24 from Sea-Portland one way. Not sure of roundtrip from Albany.
There is nonstop Greyhoud from Portland-Seattle that I always here about on the radio. Might be something worth looking into for you, but I've taken the train from Seattle to Portland and that is a gorgeous ride down.

Good luck!
Grant.

[Patrick McGuffin]

never even thought about using a train.... it would be alot more pleasant than seing miles of highway :cool:

[Allan Heer]

Hey Pat, I thought you did a great job at the Iron Bear. The fact that you entered and stuck with it puts you miles ahead of other people.

Don't sweat your numbers right now, just stick with the basic movements like squat, deadlift, overhead press etc... and you'll get there.

Has anyone ever told you that you look like "Mikey" from American Chopper?

[Jesse Marunde]

HAHA with a beard he totally would look like Mikey! I met him in person once too. Mikey is a pretty large guy, I'm guessing him at around 280. Nice guy too.


Pat, Allen's advise is good. But I would add this; I highly recomend you learn how to properly perform the olympic lifts while you are still young. They are a valuable tool in every athletes arsenal. The younger you are the easier they are to learn. Best way to build functional power, strength and SPEED!

Jesse

[Grant Higa]

Isn't there a weightlifting club south of Eugene, Jesse?? I think its near Goshen,OR Pat. Maybe, you can check it out once a week.
If not, Pat Downing at Golds Gym of Corvallis, used to give lessons. Not sure if he still does now. Call Golds and ask for Josh Downing. That is Pat's son, and he can fill you in some info.

Grant.

[Patrick McGuffin]

Hahaha.. that is the second time today i got that, exept mikey has curly hair.. i think Paul sr. would have made a great strongman competitor if he was a bit younger. anyway one of the football coaches likes to bring out a group of students to powerlifting meets so im going to check that out tommorow, ill also check out that lifting club and see if pat downing is still training people (as soon as i find the phone book ,i know its somewhere around here) and when you say olimpic lifts you mean snatch and clean&jerk right? now to find that elusive phone book......

[Patrick McGuffin]

um .... i cant seem to find a phone book , got a #? if not , tomorrow i will go to the employment office... they always have current phone books

ps. i cant seem to find sequim on a map

[Grant Higa]

Go to qwestdex.com on your computer...that would be easier for you while online.

Pat used to be the owner of Golds, but turned it over to his son Josh. Josh is also a STRONG son of a gun. Tell them you met me, and maybe they can help you with more info.

Good luck,
Grant.

[Patrick McGuffin]

got the # ill call as soon as i have a phone card (no long distance) hey jesse i have a question. how much could you dl when you were 16? or do you even remember. anyway yesterday in my wieght lifting class we did sleds and stuff like that an it was really easy compared to a year ago(it was really easy in general) what lifts should i do to train for now? i think on monday im going to max on my dl so i know exactly where im standing

[Jesse Marunde]

when I was 16 I pulled 460 in a contest. But don't compare yourself to me, we have different body types. When I was in my teens deadlifting was my best lift. I could only squat about 285 when I could pull close to 500.

the best way to get good at deadlifting is by deadlifting. PERIODIZE! I'll start a deadlift discussion in it's own thread...

Jesse

[Patrick McGuffin]

ok cool :cool: