Give me the strength.

[ClayEdgin]

I feel like this is the right time to devote all of my training time to strongman. The more I watch videos of pro strongmen doing their thing, the more I want to compete alongside of them. I've been spending far too long analyzing results from past contests and trying to see where I would fit in based on my strength levels - it's time to commit to this 100% and see how far I can take it.

The short term goal is to win New Mexico's Strongest Man in August. Hummer arm over arm pull, stones 160-290 (light!), 600lb tire flip 100ft, farmer's walk 200 per hand for max distance, and super stone for distance which I hear is a 386lb manmade stone that can be cradled like the Husafelt stone. Right now I like my chances to compete well and finish all the events with respectable marks, but on contest day I want there to be no doubt about my presence. I know there will be some strong guys there, including probably Mac Smith (last year's winner) so it's time to turn it up. Mac is a strong ass dude who will be the one to beat. And I know damn well that he and all the other competitors aren't just sitting around not training!!

The long term goal is to compete at the pro level and do it well.

Tomorrow I'm pouring a 21" stone, finishing up the "beef-up" of my stone loading platform, doing FW using the contest weights and seeing how far I can go, hitting the overhead stuff, and maybe finish out with dragging my Explorer up the street which is a fairly steep incline. I would drag it down the street but I can't outrun that truck once it gets moving downhill!!!!!

I have a hard time setting year-end goals so I'm going to try to hit month-end goals so I can keep focused more. Monthly goals will get posted below.

Give me the strength; I want it all!

[ClayEdgin]

So here we go with the goals for the end of June, which is like next week:

Tire:
Acquire tire. Flip it to exhaustion. Repeat. I'll have to make some phone calls this week to see when I can pick one up.

Farmer's walk:
200lbs per hand for at least 325ft. Current PR is 277ft, which was done after doing two 200ft trips so I think I can bag this one tomorrow or at least get damn close. If I can keep my pain tolerance in check and get that left hand to cooperate...

Stones:
Get the 21" poured tomorrow, then do 20 loads with my 230 stone to something above 54". Maybe 60".

Carry:
Dump out sand in keg and fill to about 250lbs with cement and rebar/bent nails. Shaking the sand out of the keg alone should be a good workout ;) Next month I'll start carrying it for a few hundred feet and then adding more cement after the workout.

Truck pull:
No way to train this yet, so I will do bent over rows on the axle (double overhand grip). 210lbs for 5 sets to failure ought to do me good.

My dad says my 220lb 11" steel log is finished and we just need to find a way to get it from California to New Mexico that won't cost an arm and a leg. All else fails, I will drive out there and then see if I can train with Odd, Dan, and da guys on the way back home

[Dan Harrison]

The short term goal is to win New Mexico's Strongest Man in August.

I guess Clay forgot I was still coming to compete in NM this year. Don't worry, bud...I'll go easy on you. Oh wait...no I won't. YOU WILL ENTER PAINLAND!!!!!

I guess you don't love me anymore since we never talk anymore and discuss battle plans and stuff....

My dad says my 220lb 11" steel log is finished and we just need to find a way to get it from California to New Mexico that won't cost an arm and a leg. All else fails, I will drive out there and then see if I can train with Odd, Dan, and da guys on the way back home. Man, Dan kicks ass. He is no doubt the best guy ever and very handsome too.

Thanks for the semi-homo compliments.

Anyway, it would be a major treat to have you come to Valhalla West and enter painland with Odd and I. Nobody leaves Odd's gym without limping. I'll have my apartment by then, so you can plop your big ass there without the mandatory 6am granny wakeup call.


Dan

[ClayEdgin]

Damn, I DID forget that you were coming! Hopefully the 100 degree heat at 6000ft altitude will level the playing feel between us ;) hahahaha

Now I'm even more excited about the contest. We'll rock that show then come back to my house and train until we can't walk. This time, no booze for you!

[Dan Harrison]

I'm done with booze, man. Eating my own barf is kinda where I draw the line.
Train after the contest? I wouldn't have it any other way.

I expect you to do real well in the contest. I know you have finally gotten a good home gym setup and are able to kick some ass down there.

With the 100ft tire flip, farmers for distance, super stone for distance, and the arm over arm pull, it's enough to give satan a boner, so we both had better hit the strength endurance training HARD (our training, not satans boner.) We better pray there's at least some time between events cause besides the tire, they are all pretty gnarly. Get a chain, attatch it to your training belt and pull your truck up and down the street. I mean SPRINT with it. We did that yesterday with my pickup till we all died. Wind sprints. Just make sure you put Shawn in the drivers seat so he can hit the brakes if you eat shit or something. Everybody likes you better in 3D, not 2D.

[ClayEdgin]

Yeah, good idea to avoid the hard liquor. My gym lifts are really sucking. I still haven't nailed 275 overhead but once since moving here in April, and before moving I got 300 for a solid single. Pretty much all other gym lifts are down 15%, although my conditioning and event training is better. I can't allow myself to get hung up on my numbers, except those that relate to specific events.

As hoped, I got my 21" stone poured, fixed the loading platform, and hit the stone lifts. I was shooting for 20 lifts of my 230 and was lifting to the 53" platform. Did 14 loads, and on some of those loads I would bring the stone high to my chest, squat back down, then pop up and try to get some air under the stone on the way to the platform. Since my problem is standing with stones I figure some higher rep stuff should help prime those muscles for the heavier stuff once I get the hefty stone out of its mold. Today for the first time I took my 185lb sand filled keg from the ground to the platform in one motion (high pull basically) without touching my body. My training partner Shawn loaded the 230 a half dozen times, looking more solid each time. We will have to make something around 260 for him soon.

Overhead press sucked as usual. Everything felt heavy and I couldn't lock 275 out. I need to just go from 225 to 280 and skip 275 to see if I can't wrap my head around that one. Shawn missed 185 twice, then came back to hit it for a double after the proper motivation.

Today's farmer's walk goal was to get 325ft with 200lb per hand and I came up 25ft short. I just had nothing left and after setting the implements down at 300ft, I collapsed onto the weights and fought off the stars that were swirling around. I think the NM contest has a time limit of 75 seconds and I hit that 300ft mark at 74.3 seconds. Grip was f---ing solid the whole way. My warmup trip of 200ft hurt like shit and I didn't think I would do well. I do the FW up and down my street which is on a pretty good incline. Shawn did two 200ft trips and then walked 100ft back to the garage with the implements. I timed him to see how fast he could do it and he went 15.75 seconds. Next week we're going to do indian runs where one of us walks 100ft with the implements and then the next person picks it up and walks back to see how far we can get. I'm shooting for us to walk 800 feet total.

Then we ate bbq'ed burgers and hit the partial pulls. Shawn's brother in law is a 160lb nutcase who always love to challenge himself and others. He decided to join us on the partials even though he doesn't lift weights. The bar was set around 22" high. Shawn failed at 605, then his bro in law lifted it a few inches, so Shawn got back onto the bar and locked it out. I got 695 but realize that my lower body strength is way low.

Then we did a ton of deadlifts, cleans, and presses with a 2 3/8" bar. I'm not sure what the bar weighs, but I estimate we used between 180-200lbs for a LOT of reps and singles. For a while, I was saying "Shawn, try this" and doing something I didn't think he could do. He would do it most times and then got bored, so I finished out.

Then hit the kettlebell stuff practicing swings, snatches, flips, bottoms up presses, and windmills. The hardest thing I did was a Sotts press with the 32kg bell in the right hand. Also pulled off a bottoms up press of the 32kg bell and performed a windmill while stabilizing it overhead.

I ache.

[ClayEdgin]

Lower back felt good enough to squat, so I did.

Squats:
135x5, 185x5, 225x5, 245x5, 275x5, 315x3, 405x1 (missed second)

Damn, harder than I remembered. Not squatting but twice this year will do that to ya. I hit a good grove on 315, making sure to push my butt out first to begin the descent. On 405 I just sorta went down and came back up. The stability felt good though.

Push Press partials in rack:
225x5, 275x3, 325x3x3x3 (missed all 325 attempts)

Pavlov and his dog had the right idea - ring a bell and happiness ensues. I'm doing the same thing, except I'm standing in my rack and trying to make the loaded bar slap the inside top of the rack. The rack is 8' high from the top I think so I would be push pressing it 7'10" if I get it to "ring the bell" Last week I was able to ring the bell with 315 but was so close to 325 every time this week that I'm sure I would have had it if I didn't squat beforehand. But no excuses; I gave 100% on every attempt and felt more confident handling big weights overhead. My best press since moving to NM is 275 and I hit 300 before, so I'm hoping that overloading my press will make 300 feel light again. I bet if I start slapping the rack with 350 I will be locking out 315 and building some crucial leg drive. So I'll try 325 again next time and when I get it, I will go for 335, which is about 5lbs over bodyweight as of today.

I got the 21" stone out of its mold today but did not even dare try to lift it, except to roll it onto a scale. Slater's estimate of being 350lbs for the mold was pretty spot on and I'd say it's there give or take a couple pounds. It is SMOOOOOTH too. I will let it set up until the weekend of July 11-12 before I tack up and go after it. I'm heading to Kansas this weekend to hang out with my cool father in law and shoot some guns at stuff, so I won't be lifting Sunday unless I can get some odd objects out there to play with.

My neighbor across the street agreed to go pick up a big tire this week so I just need to touch bases with the guy who was going to give me one and I will be all set.

For fun, the first three reps of 225 were done strict

[Billy Wolt]

Hey Clay,

great going...one day you'll get strong.

Are you attending the GGC this year?

[Jacob Sauter]

This journal is a great read Clay. Good luck on turnin pro, just give it your all.

[Dan Harrison]

You'd better lose some more of that ugly fat, mister, or else you are gonna be HATIN' life come the super stone for distance and the farmers for distance, not to mention the truck arm over arm pull, baby. Power and Might!

[ClayEdgin]

Yeah, no shizzle huh. Working on it dude. It hasn't been under 100 here for a couple weeks now, except for when it rains, so the sweat has been pouring.

[SBaier]

Hey Clay - just wanted to let you know I've enjoyed reading your journal. Great entries - very complete!

[Lance Peterson]

I agree GREAT JOURNAL man! Did you luck out at all with a shipping company?

[ClayEdgin]

Thanks a lot guys. I think a lot of detail in my journals will help me better track how I'm doing.

Lance, no luck with the shipping companies. Cheapest I was going to be able to get it here for was around $300, so I'm driving out to California in August to pick it up and see some family. It should cost about the same in gas for my Explorer!

[ClayEdgin]

A good night. Some friends came over and we scarfed down chili cheese dogs and seasoned fries. Then they left and I could get down to business. A full stomach makes it hard to lift sometimes though!

Push press:
135x5, 185x5, 225x1, 285x1

Everything up to the 285 I did a split jerk and I think I am liking that technique. I didn't split the 285 because I wanted to muscle it up with some leg drive. This is the first time I've hit over 275 since April when I moved out here and although it isn't a PR, it's a good mark to hit. I decided to just skip 275 tonight and see what happens when I throw another 10lbs on the bar. Those partial "ring the bell" presses in the rack helped me get through the sticking point. Well, they just raised the sticking point a bit higher, which I fought through tonight.

Stones:
185kegx2, 230stoneX2, 350stonex0

Dammit, that 350lb stone is slick as a mofo. I tried using my sleeves that I got from Jackals Gym but I got the larger size and they were trying to roll down as I lifted the stone, so I duct taped the openings. Big mistake. It took off quite a bit of sleeve material when I removed the tape. Then I took the sleeves off and just tacked up my arms. I got it into my lap and began to stand with it(!!!!) but it rolled on my shirt and I caught it back in my lap. I should try it shirtless and tack up my chest too until I get strong enough to not need tacky as much. If anyone doesn't like it, they can get the hell out of my garage!

Ring the bell partials in rack
325x3x3x3 (missed all 9 again)
Missed the first 3 badly, then barely missed the remaining six. Soon.

Plate pinching:
2-35lb plates for MANY singles with either hand.

Plate pinches are good for overall hand strength.

Vertical bar
105x1, 205x1, 295x1, 345x1 (tie PR), 365x1 (PR), 370x0

I'm using a piece of galvanized pipe 1" in diameter 2' long with a floor flange screwed the other end to hold the plates on. Last year when I competed at a huge grip contest in PA I pulled the same as I did in training a week beforehand, so I think the implements are similar. The vbar we used in the contest is used all over the world for grip contests. The world record is 360, although I can't count this lift as a WR because it wasn't done on the actual contest implement in a real contest. But it doesn't mean I'm not getting stronger.

[SBaier]

Sorry for my ignorance, but what are ring the bell partials and vertical bar?

If I ate chili dogs and fries before a stone workout, I would probably throw chunks before I finish the final stone.

On the stones, I wear a belt to keep my shirt tight or don't wear a shirt - just my .02.

[Lance Peterson]

Wow that is one hell of a good workout!

[ClayEdgin]

Shawn, the "ring the bell" partials are where I use over 100% of my push press max and stand inside my power rack. The top of the rack is 8', so I try to push press the loaded bar into the top of the rack. I'm like 6'5 and the rack isn't tall enough for me to push it to lockout. If I'm successful and the bar hits the rack at the top, it sounds like I'm ringing a bell. I'm using this exercise to get accustomed to moving more weight around.

And I think if I was doing more volume/endurance training last night I would NOT have eaten chili cheese dogs.

I've been taking protein shakes with whey, creatine, and 2% milk. I'm a little lactose intolerant and whole milk gives me gas that would clear out this bulletin board. But the 2% doesn't kill my stomach.

[ClayEdgin]

And a vertical bar is just a 1" loading pin. Like this:

[Dan Harrison]

I made the same mistake in ordering sleeves. I got the large size and after I type this, I'm going to the post office to return them for a pair of a size lower. Dude, I have sold my soul to shirtless stone lifting. It's the ONLY way to go. Well, I'm glad you're practicing your plate pinching and v-bar....just don't work on farmers for distance or anything that might help your new mexico contest results.....GROW SOME HAIR AND STOP BEING SUCH A GAY APE AND HIT THE EVENTS, BABY!

The overhead strength will get well over 300+ soon, just remember to do full range AND partial range presses and concentrate on EXPLODING.

[ClayEdgin]

Event training days are Sundays, you rainbow colored powerbear.

[Dan Harrison]

Event training days are Sundays, you rainbow colored powerbear.

HAHAHHAHAHAAHAHAHAHH

[Michael Nunn-Weinberg]

I've been taking protein shakes with whey, creatine, and 2% milk. I'm a little lactose intolerant and whole milk gives me gas that would clear out this bulletin board. But the 2% doesn't kill my stomach.

Have you tried using Lactose-free milk? I'm quite lactose intolerant and it has made a huge difference.

[ClayEdgin]

No, I haven't tried that yet. The 2% has been pretty forgiving, and it's cheaper by the gallon than lactose-free or soy milks. If it starts messing with my stomach, I will definitely give that stuff a try.

[ClayEdgin]

Stones:
185kegx5 loaded to various heights, 230 to 53" several times. 350 to lap 3 times and started to go up with it once, but I didn't have the power to stand with it. I tried the heavy stone shirtless today for the first time and having a little tacky on the chest does wonders. Shawn tried his sleeves for the first time and liked them. He's getting faster lifting that 230. Time to move the platform up to 59" or 65"

Push Press:
135x5, 170x5, 200x3 (strict), 225x3 (first was strict), 290x0

Damned if I wasn't a hair away from locking 290 out. Shawn was just as close to locking 200 out.

High pulls:
1x10 @ 245lbs

In leiu of training with a tire which we don't have yet, we used approximately half the weight of the tire in the upcoming contest and did a set of 10 pulls with it. I wanted to do 20 but anything over #15 would have just been a fast deadlift with no shrugging power. Seems obvious that I'm lacking some explosiveness. I used to be snatching more than this and now I am only pulling it to my chest. Shawn's coworker has access to these huge tires that he says are about 8 ft tall and I'm going over to where they're at tomorrow to check them out. I suspect they will be around 1800lbs if he's right, in which case I'll pass

Bench pressing:

Did some 3 board presses with lighter weights then switched to reverse grip and ditched the boards to put a heavier emphasis on the triceps. Did 225x10 which is faily girly.

Sled dragging:

Built a sled this morning with about $20 worth of materials from Home Depot. Got a 2x2 piece of 3/4" plywood and bolted it onto an old tire. Then I put an eye bolt through the tire, bolted a loading pin on the plywood, and was good to go. We both did a few 50ft trips with 100lbs then a few more with 200lbs. Not only does the increased weight make it harder, but it creates more friction between the tire and the street. After 4 trips at that weight it was time to lay down.

Sled dragging friggin rocks. I would be a lazy puss to not do it at the end of every workout.

[Dan Harrison]

Shawn's coworker has access to these huge tires that he says are about 8 ft tall and I'm going over to where they're at tomorrow to check them out. I suspect they will be around 1800lbs if he's right, in which case I'll pass



You are a whale's vagina. I would totally take that tire if I was you.

I agree about the sled dragging. It is one of the best things you can do for strongman conditioning and strength.


Your Friend,

Horse Cock

[ClayEdgin]

The newest word on that is that two of those tires he has are steel belted (close to a ton) but one is not and weighs about 1300-1400. I will take that one! And I can have it delivered to my driveway this week.

[Lance Peterson]

Say man if you are having any troubles finding some tires call a implement place for example and ask who hauls their tires away. Then call the place takes the tires and they will probably have 100s and 100s to choose from.

I had a hell of a time finding anything local because somebody was hording them all. I got ahold of place that collected everything in town and they were cool and let me go pick whatever I want out.

[ClayEdgin]

Good idea Lance. I've been in touch with a tire welder here in town and the guy that runs it said I could take whatever tires I wanted, but I have to wait until this coming week to go back there because he's returning from vacation. There are two other places in town I've touched bases with and they are happy to give away tires, but since I work the same hours that they're open and I don't have a truck or trailer big enough to haul them away, getting tires is a little more complicated. My neighbor across the way has agreed to pick up whatever tires we need because he has a huge truck and flexible work hours. So by this time next week I should have a log entry about how much the new tire kicked my ass :)

[ClayEdgin]

Scuse my french, but f*ck yeah!

Went to a movie with my wife tonight, sans the 2 year old. First time we had been out since Million Dollar Baby was in theaters. It came out on video today so we made a vow to start seeing a new movie in theaters on the day that the last movie we saw hits video stores. Saw Kicking and Screaming with Will Ferrell. Decent movie for some cheap laughs, although Ferrell is looking more and more like a sleep depraved coke addict. But that's just me. Came home and Kelli did her swiss ball exercises while I pushed heavy stuff overhead for a little while.

Push Press:
135x10, 185x5, 225x3, 290x1, 300x0x0x0, 225x10 (PR)

Holy smokes. Everything felt solid tonight. 290 took a little fighting to lock out but I thought I had a chance at 300. Good to be back over that 275 hump. I just had to throw more weight on the bar than 275 to get through that mental barrier. I had the same problem with 200 - I had to go from 195 to 205 and then things went back up from there. 225 for 10 was harder than I imagined, but then again I am a puss. I hit a good groove for the first six and then had to gut out 3 more before I had to rerack the weight. I took a knee for a few seconds then got back up and got the 10th rep and almost the 11th. Then I sat down for a few minutes and sipped water.

Got some videos of the 290 and 225x10 which I will put in the members gallery shortly. 300 should come very soon.

Tomorrow I will be at the tire welder's shop at 6:45 to flip some tires and pick out my favorite(s). Then I'll rush home, shower, and head to work. My training partner Shawn has a big dump truck that I may end up using if I want to get more than one tire. I suspect it will hold 5 or 6.

[ClayEdgin]

Got an 800lb tire today. Beautiful thing. Perfect tread. It's a 26.5-R25.

3 flips done faster than I ever have before. Awesome!

[Mike Westerling]

I wanted to make sure you saw it. If you went by the tirex link to figure on 800 lbs it may be more. The tirex link is for bias tires (no r before 25). If it's an r25 then it's a radial and atleast 150-200 lbs more. When I looked up 26.5 r25 in the past I got weights from just over 900 up to 1200 depending on the make. Just thought you would want to know.
-Mike

[ClayEdgin]

Thanks boss!

[ClayEdgin]

Met up with the promoter of the strongman contest I won in May and we trained for a couple hours. The guy doesn't own a single weight plate so we did all strongman events in preparation for the contest in 4 weeks. He has a lot of good equipment though. He too lives on a hill so we did all the events uphill so as to make it a bit harder.

Tire flip:
530lb tire for 120ft.

Not as exhausting as last time I did this, and definitely good to not have such bad cottonmouth as last time. It was nice to be so relaxed during this. I'd say about half of the flips were done in one motion, but the tire is so light I had better be doing ALL of those flips in one motion.

Super Stone
340lb coffin shaped stone pick from ground and carry for two trips of 100ft.

This was a lot easier than trying to lift an atlas stone of the same weight. I feel like I can go a long ways in this event since the 100ft trips weren't anything near a max effort. That event definitely tests the grip and wrists since the stone is too large to wrap my arms around.

Farmer's Walk:
200lb cylinders in each hand for three 100ft trips.

I ran as fast as I could on the second trip and was surprised to find that I didn't stumble.

Stones:
Series of 225, 280, and 320 from the contest. On my second attempt to go through the cycle I accidentally broke the loading platform with the 280lb stone and the 225lb stone I had placed shortly before fell on the driveway and began to roll into the street. Warren, the guy I trained with, hustled out there and stopped a stone that weighed more than he did before it hit a Thunderbird across the street. As I mentioned before, we were on a hill so any errant stones would have left a path of destruction down the street. I said that if that something like that happens, we close up the garage and swear that it wasn't us.

Sled dragging with rope and harness:
460x50ft, 660x50ftx2, 840x30ft

I ditched the rope on the first three sets because it was only slowing me down. On the last set, the buckle on my belt stretched and came apart, nearly throwing me to the ground. I have been clipping a carabiner or quick link to my belt buckle, turning it around behind me, and dragging weight that way. The neighbors must have looked surprised to find this sweaty fat guy pulling a pallet with a 340lb stone, three beer kegs full of sand, and their neighbor riding on top of it up their street. I know I would have finished out the 50ft course but I can't say I've done it yet. I fixed the belt and it is good as new.

Shawn is coming over tonight, along with my estranged tire-delivering neighbor Mike, and I'm going to mostly watch while they press, pull, and drag. I will likely get in on the sled action only because I like shitting myself while passed out on 110 degree pavement while chained to weights. Or something like that.

Warren was cool enough to give me two beautiful, empty beer kegs (some would argue that the real beauty would have been if they were full) so I'm going to fill one with water and the other partially with cement or sand.

[Dan Harrison]

As I mentioned before, we were on a hill so any errant stones would have left a path of destruction down the street. I said that if that something like that happens, we close up the garage and swear that it wasn't us.



Ahhhh.... A man after my own heart.

Is that super stone gonna be the same one thats gonna be in our comp on aug 13th? And the farmers? Tire? PM me secretly so none of the other crap-eaters find out the secrets. HAHAH.

I'm glad you are training so hard. You seem to have a legitimate fire up your ass to do well in this contest. Hail to puking!

[ClayEdgin]

As threatened, Shawn came over but my neighbor was a no-show. Shawn did most of the work tonight and I was there to do some sets to give him some rest.

Deadlifts (to warmup):
up to 315x3. Nothing major.

800lb tire flip:
Wasn't keeping close count, but I would guess I did it between 12-14 times and Shawn did it closer to 20 times. I was impressed by how much Shawn attacked the tire. You can see a change in his demeanor when he tries stuff close to his max.

Push presses:
up to 225x3. Again, didn't really push it.

Shawn's goal has been 200 since we began and he finally got it last night. He went 135x5, 185x1, 200x0x0x0x0x1

Stones:
290x2 to 47"

The first one felt real solid and got a "f*cking sicko" response from Shawn because he had just tried several times to lap it and finally got it. The second one I was so sweaty that the image on my shirt got pressed onto the stone a little bit and after the sweat dried it was gone.

My shoulders and forearms are so raw they look like a plucked chicken. And I am damn sore today. I signed both of us for New Mexico's strongest man today. I should get some more tacky before then.

[ClayEdgin]

Tonight felt rushed because we started so late. But it was a quality workout.

Push Press:
135x10, 185x5, 225x3, 295x0

Shawn worked up to 185x4 which was a PR for him

Ringing the bell (partial PP hitting top of rack)
325x1 (PR), 335x1 (PR), 345x0

I had missed 325 for two weeks and then killed it on my first try last night. I got 335 (2lbs over bodyweight) on my second try, and 345 Shawn said was "definitely under an inch" away from hitting. Shawn did a couple sets with 225 and 230 but was not close to touching any of them. He should bust the weight down to 200 if he wants to hit the rack with it.

Squat:
up to 225x5 but we were both anxious to get to the 18" deadlifts and sled pulling. Plus it was past 9pm by now and we spent most of the squat session teaching Shawn how to put on knee wraps. I need to squat at least once a week to bring up my lower body strength. And the day I'm not squatting I need to be pulling.

18" deadlifts
Up to 605x1

605 is my PR deadlift from the ground but lately I haven't pulled anything over 500 without trouble, so it was nice to at least feel this weight locked out. I'm excited to pull more often.

Sled:
100lbsx200ft (PR), 200lbsx100ft (PR), 200lbsx120ft (PR)

We had to park Shawn's car on the side of the street and turn his lights on so (1) we could see where we were going and (2) nobody would run us over. The nice thing about pulling the sled at night is that the ashpalt isn't nearly as hot as when it's during the day so collapsing after a run doesn't give you second degree burns. I nearly puked so many times, thinking about it makes me want to heave. After finally standing up, while in the shower, while laying in bed, while getting up to pee at 2am - any wrong stomach movement and it would have been over.

The promoter of the NM show said he got our entries yesterday so we're good to go. When we set foot on that field in a few weeks, I don't want there to be ANY doubt about who has been working the hardest for this contest.

[Jay O'Neill]

Great Post Clay... As always! Great workout!
Keep up the great work and good luck in the contest.

[Dan Harrison]

When we set foot on that field in a few weeks, I don't want there to be ANY doubt about who has been working the hardest for this contest.
Yeah right, Wheezy. Don't forget, I usually train so hard that the Viking Gods usually come down from Valhalla to tell me to take it easy. And they FIGHT to the death every day for all eternity!

I'm proud of all your hard work, man. It's good to see you hitting the events hard again, and the sled pulling WILL pay off...I promise. Do those a couple times a week and you are ready for almost anything.

We'll woop Batman's ass.


Dan

[ClayEdgin]

I did say that I was excited to pull more

Deadlifts:
up to 545x1

Tough, but not so bad that I had to hitch or cheat. The outside of my pecs started cramping up, probably from tensing them during the pulls. I remember that happening when I started doing deads again after a long layoff and it went away not too long after. I think I found a good spot to place my belt too so it doesn't hinder me on the way down to the bar. I'm looking forward to getting back over 600 again and then to never stop deadlifting ever again.

Your progress has been a big inspiration to my workouts so far Dan.

[Lance Peterson]

I have always wondered that. Where is the correct spot for the belt. I move mine around depending if I am doing squats or deads???

[ClayEdgin]

Seems like it feels better wearing it low on deadlifts and higher on squats.

[DaneGarreau]

Good luck at the contest Clay.

[Cory Strack]

see being a fat guy, i like mine higher for DL and lower for squatting. it lets me get down low to pull. thats odd.

[ClayEdgin]

Putting in work.

Stones:
230x3, 290x3 to 59"

I was f*cking smoking these stones tonight. 290 was popping off the ground like there was a balloon under it. I wish I had something around 310-320. The higher platform was more challenging and I don't think I will ever train to load a stone lower than 59" unless it weighs 350. I'm really getting my technique dialed in. Shawn was having a harder time loading the 230 to that height and he had to get full extension onto his toes to reach the platform, but he did it every time. I think he got 5 loads with the 230 and then lapped the 290 3 times, which is a PR for him. He tried loading the 290 and started to get it up there, but he doesn't quite have the power to stand with something like that yet. His best back squat is somewhere around 280.

800lb tire flip:
20 flips for me, 12 for Shawn.

We were doing what I guess are called "indian runs" where one guy does two flips then the next guy does two flips down the course. 8 flips worked out to be approximately 50 feet. I popped all but 2 or 3 of them over on the first movement. My technique on these is coming along great too. I'm very happy. Shawn stopped after 8 flips to go throw up because he was really hurting. I wasn't feeling much of anything so I did six flips while he dry heaved, then he finished off the last two for another 50ft run. Then I did 3 flips while he did 2 for the last trip which was longer than 50ft. I'm ready for 50ft runs by myself now. Felt like doing 30 or more flips. Uphill tire flipping is a bitch and seems to add another 100lbs to the tire compared to when it's going downhill. I'm proud of Shawn for not quitting altogether after heaving for a while. That bastard is sick.

Push press:
135x8, 185x5, 225x6

Not really doing a lot of leg drive on these tonight because (1) legs were tired from stones and tire and (2) I wanted to build more shoulder strength. Shawn worked up to 155x3, failed at 185, then finally threw up outside. Attaboy.

Sled:
100lbsx100ft, 100lbsx200ft, 145x50ftx4

We pulled backwards tonight and boy does that fry the quads and calves. What a great feeling. Shawn matched me pull for pull but he was laying on the ground between sets or trying not to puke again. It ain't right for a guy who weighs 100lbs less than me to be in poorer condition, but we're both working on it. The last four 50ft runs were done in alternating fashion where I'd go uphill and he'd go downhill. Once, he wasn't ready to pull yet so I went another 50ft back down the hill and then pulled it up the driveway and inside the garage.

I feel sooooo good right now about how my training is progressing. Max strength is going up, conditioning is improving quickly, techniques are being fine tuned. Dan, if you beat me in August, I promise it won't be by much!

[Lance Peterson]

Great job man !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

[ClayEdgin]

Thanks Lance!

I did a strongman demo for the company that distributes phone books all over the US. Man, I was really out of touch with bending, tearing, etc. I had a lot of fun though. There were perhaps 50-60 people in the room and I got to do some fun stuff I hadn't done before. I didn't want to use easy cards and spikes, so I brought all my hard stuff. Between that and being out of practice I struggled to get through some of the feats and actually failed on my last feat, giving myself whiplash in the process.

I just hooked it up so I will be borrowing someone's 320lb stone who lives across town. I pick 'er up Wednesday!

[Billy Wolt]

clay,

are you gonna be at the ggc this year?

[ClayEdgin]

Probably not.

Today's lower body massacre:

Deadlifts:
135x5, 225x5, 315x3, 405x2, 495x2, 545x1, 565x1

Had to fight that 565 like a mother but got it locked out without much hitching. At some point, something inside said to pull faster so I did and that helped. Shawn worked up to 405x1 (PR) and then 415x1 (PR), then fought through 3 at 365. Nice work dude. He hasn't pulled in six weeks but credits his 40lb PR to tire flipping and stones.

Close grip bench:
135x8, 185x5, 225x5, 275xalmost 3

Was happy to be so solid on these, although I lost the groove on the third one at 275 and had to be pulled back in line before locking it out. Shawn was afraid to hit 185 because that was his max bench and he thought the close grip would be weaker, but he ground out 2 reps and almost a third before racking it.

Good mornings:

135x10, 185x5, 225x5, 275x5

What a beautiful murderous exercise. Why aren't I doing these more often?
Shawn worked up to 225x5 for 2 sets. He had not done this before and on the last sets he was only moving the bar down about 8" but he was working hard doing it so I didn't give him any shit. The last set of 275 had my core shaking like a willow.

Sled:
45x100ft, 90x100ft, 135x100ftx3 trips

We did this tonight by being bent at the waist and pulling with the handles between our legs, which forced us to use more hip, ab, and back strength. I didn't think it would be this tough. I was ready to be done after 2 sets but I had to prove to myself that there was another set in me. Being a champion is all about pushing yourself farther than you or anyone else thought possible. Gotta leave no doubt about what is hard work and what is just "going through the motions" Shawn didn't make the third trip tonight. That's not to say that he's not a winner or anything; I just said he didn't make it "tonight." He will do it though.

Got a nice ache going on in my lower body and I can't wait to feel how sick I walk tomorrow. Time for a shower and then crash into bed.

I skipped the overhead work tonight because I pulled a neck muscle doing a head harness lift on Monday and it still hurts like hell. Overhead work hurts.

[Lance Peterson]

Great workout man! Things are looking good for the New Mexico show!

[ClayEdgin]

Thanks Lance, we're trying! After this show, I want to put in a solid 6 months of work training for a heavy contest with higher caliber competitors to see where I start to fit in and what I have to improve on.

Today's episode is entitled "Training at Hank's"

Shawn and I drove 2 hours to Hank Segura's place so we could hang out, lift, and get a feel for the implements that we're using in the upcoming contest. Las Vegas, NM is more humid than Rio Rancho but not as hot, however I did manage to get a sunburn. Good workout today though. Lots of gas left in the tank and I'm fixin to put up a big press on Wednesday since I shouldn't be fatigued.

500-550lb tire flip
100ft, but don't know how much time it took. This tire was skinny, so when I tried to drive into it, it just slid across the grass. D'oh! Conditioning wasn't bad at the end. The grip on the tire isn't that great, but that's part of the contest - everyone will have to use the same tire. Shawn did the tire for 100ft and finished in 59 seconds and change.

Farmer's walk:
200lbs for 150ft
I was talking shit the whole way to whoever would listen. Grip was solid, conditioning was solid and barely tested, and body strength wasn't faltering either. No problem. Shawn went 200ft I think and then set them down under control. He wanted to save some gas in the tank too. The guy has a grip that beats mine in every pinch and thickbar lift, so walking with 1 1/4" handles is cake.

Super stone:
386lb coffin-shaped stone x 150ft
Felt real good getting this thing up into my arms. Didn't have to lap it like I did with Warren's super stone a couple weeks ago. Hank says that a good distance is over 300' and that shouldn't be a problem. My goal for the contest is 400'. Shawn went for about 200ft and said it was close to his max, but come contest time I don't think he'll go below 250'. Hank has a 411lb super stone that I got about a foot off the ground but could not get it up into my lap because it is so tall. I think I can get it next time I try.

Sled drag:
Car hood (flipped over) with a tire on top, 400lb super stone on top of it, and with a chain running through everything. I fastened it to my belt and ran as fast as fucking possible for 150ft. I sure do love sled dragging. Later in the day I dragged the sled again but Hank was sitting on it, and he weighs 220. I think I got about 50ft before I just couldn't get traction anymore. Pulling in Chuck Taylor's in grass is hard. Shawn did the 150ft course at a slower pace.

Stones:
160-320 to 48" platform, then a ton of loads and squats with Hank's 280.
For the first time, the 320 came up real easy from my lap. I had more trouble lapping it because it was on grass. Once I got it into my lap, started to come up and pushed my hips through, it was easy. I also took the 280 to the platform without lapping it, which is a PR. Shawn went through the stones and even loaded the 280, a good PR for him. He says it is much easier than my 290 because it's smaller. My 290 is 21" whereas this one is about 18-19".

Got some pressing, pulling, and sled dragging planned for Wednesday, a grip contest in Michigan next weekend, some light work and sled dragging the following Wednesday, then the contest the following weekend. The weekend after that, Shawn and I are driving out to California and on the way back through we're going to train with Odd hopefully.

[ClayEdgin]

Today's episode: "My lower body fell off"

Before lifting I had 4 spicy McChickens, a large fry, and a gallon of water. I'm ready to rock. And puke.

Deadlifts:
135x5, 225x2, 315x2, 405x2, 495x1, 575x0

Shit. I had it to my knees twice but couldn't keep going. Feels like I forgot my technique. I feel like I have the strength but I let the bar get out of position, or I get myself out of position. Shawn nailed a PR 425x1. Getting stroooong nooooow!

Cheat curls:
135x5, 155x5, 185x3, x3, (PR) 135x18 (PR)
Ah yes, curls in the power rack. That is some heinous gayness. Well, until I used too much lower body and catapulted myself onto my toes, smacking my head on the crossbar of the rack. Shawn says I actually came off the ground on that pull. After moving the bar outside the rack, the reps were fast and furious and it was the first time I felt sick after doing curls. The 135x18 was a killer, and on the last rep I threw the bar onto the rack from about a foot away, actually shattering the end of the bar! So now that Sears brand barbell is even more worthless than before. Because it is made of pot metal, it is irreparable and permanently unusable. I will have to think of something creative to do with it though. Shawn worked up to 185x5 getting each rep to about 90 degrees and was able to do 10 reps with 135 cheat style.

Good mornings:
135x5, 185x5, 225x5, 275x3, 315x10 (PR)

In case you were wondering, 315x10 is hard. I thought I would only have 3 in me, but after 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, and 9, I figured 10 would be a nice number to hit. Shawn worked up to a strong two sets of 225x5, going much deeper than last time.

Sled pull backwards:
100lbsx50ftx2 (speed PR), 200lbsx50ftx2 (speed PR)
I'd venture to guess that the 100lb pulls backwards were done in 8-10 seconds and the 200lb pulls were 15-20 seconds. Everything seemed SOLID during the pulls but afterwards I had to sit down a couple times to catch my breath and not throw up. My upper body was motionless, arms were relaxed, grip was secure, and my legs were pumping.

Right now it feels like my lower body is somewhere laying down in the garage or in the street. Everything hurts so much now that I am afraid to wake up tomorrow! Every time my low back aches right now, I think about my mom who just had some serious back surgery to repair some messed up discs. She'll be bedridden for a month but at least I get to see her in a few weeks when I go back to Cali. I miss my parents.

This Sunday we are training with a guy who helped out at the contest I won in May named Chandos who lives in the same town. He seems very enthusiastic about training and we love that. I don't need to be around anyone who considers training an obligation! We're going to hit the events as hard as possible, and then next Wednesday do some light lifting and sled dragging and then rest until the comp next weekend. I am ready for this contest. I want people who saw me in May to say "Damn, he has been working hard!"

[Lance Peterson]

Damn good lifting man! MMMMMMMMMM Spicy Chickennnnn

[ClayEdgin]

Thanks Lance. I am feeling it today!

[Dan Harrison]

Your post was HILARIOUS, man. I love how graphic you are about your almost puking and your heinous gayness in flailing and smashing the poor innocent 135 bar around your power rack (your squat rack, not your man-boobs) Just kidding, buddy. I just don't understand how your deadlifting isn't a lot higher because I've seen your videos int he past and 600+ rocketed up faster than light. It'll come with hard work...and you're doing plenty of it.

Keep it up.

[ClayEdgin]

I scored a bunch of cool crap today:

1) 500-550lb tire (free). I visited the tire welder again and I got to flip a few tires before choosing my favorite. Then they loaded it up into Shawn's dump truck and I was off to my next stop

2) 12" x 96" wooden log. It's actually a viga, which is just a fancy name for a wooden log that they use as posts and beams in Southwestern-style houses. It's some kind of pine and weighs 195lbs empty. Tomorrow I begin the process of cutting hand holes in it and mounting handles.

3) About 300 phonebooks of varying sizes and thicknesses from all over the U.S. I've made good friends with the Distribution Coordinator from Dex Media, the company that handles phone book advertisements. I go about once a week and get more phonebooks, rip them, and then bring them back to be recycled and pick up more books. Today's catch was larger than usual and they said there were another 400 upstairs. Yikes. Most times I only get a shopping cart full.

4) 75' of 1.5" rope. A customer I was selling grippers to said he doesn't want it anymore, gave it to me to try, and said to tell him what I would pay him for it. Sa-weet.

My shoulders are pretty torn up from sliding that tire at Hank's across the ground and will not be healed before Sunday so I may skip the tire flipping and substitute high pulls again. Tomorrow, aside from making the log work, we will be welding a yoke together. Sunday's training will kick ass.

[Patrick McGuffin]

hell yeah, i wish i had that many phone books to tear!! It seems to me that things are all coming together for you, pretty soon i will have all that i need to have a good training session with partners and what-not, i am not looking forward to having to pay for a rope and harness though :D

[Dan Harrison]

Congratulations on the new additions to the family! I cannot wait to toss that shit around one day. Better get that yoke built too.

[ClayEdgin]

The damn welder wouldn't cooperate, but Shawn has some ideas on what to do about getting it to work properly so hopefully we will get to play with it soon. Also, the viga I got to make a log with is about half done; I need to oil the chainsaw blade, get some more gas mix, and then finish that thing.

"One Last Push"

Tonight Chandos, Warren, and Shawn all came out to the house and we killed stuff. Everyone was hitting PR's left and right. The workout lasted 2.5 hours and I felt satisfied that I put a lot of myself into the work tonight.

Tire:
500lb tire for 120ft

Everyone finished out their respective courses. Warren did 80, Chan and Shawn did 100, and I went 100ft and then came back 20ft. The wound on my left shoulder opened back up from driving into the tire so I will wrap it in gauze and tape and keep is smothered in Neosporin so I don't mess it up bad at the contest. I think I know why that wound keeps happening. I'm gripping the treads narrow and when I drive into it my arms are bent. Obviously, I can't curl a 500lb tire off the ground, so my shoulders slide up the tire until my arms lock. I need to either start higher with my shoulders above the tire and a narrow grip or a wider grip.

Stones:
185kegx3, 230stonex2, 290x1, 320x1, 350x1x1 (PR BABY!) all to 47"

I smoked that rock like a crack addict. I credit that PR to more frequent deadlifts and a lot of good mornings. I could have done something around 370 if I had it I think. Each load wasn't just putting it up on the platform, it was standing completely, raising the stone high onto my chest, getting full extension, and then lowering it onto the platform under control. Oh man I rocked that thing. Everyone hit PR's in this, I think. Shawn loaded the 290 which he had never been close to doing before. Warren dominated my 230 2 or 3 times. Last time I trained with him he struggled to get his 220 on a lower platform and tonight he just murdered it. Chandos beat that 230 up consistently and got the 290 a few inches off the ground, as did Warren.

Push Press:
115x5, 135x5, 185x3, 225x3, 275x0x1x0

It was sprinkling outside so we couldn't do FW or truck pull quite yet. I missed the first rep at 275, had it locked out briefly on the second, and then missed the third. Ah well. Shawn missed 200 a few times but smoked 185 a few times. Warren I think was very close to 185, which would have been a BW press for him. Chandos should have had a 165 that fell just short of lockout.

Truck pull with harness and rope:
15,000lb dump truck uphill for about 10 feet twice.

Unbelievably hard uphill. I had to have some help getting it started. There's definitely a technique to it and I got my best movements by staying super lower and using the rope to stabilize myself while I pumped my legs. I think I should do well on this event on flat ground. Everyone else tried it but could only get it to rock a little bit.

Farmer's Walk
200lbsx150ft, 100ft, 200ft, 110ft

We were rocking on these. Warren would go uphill 100ft or until failure, then Shawn would pick it up right away and go the rest of the 100ft, turn around and come back to the starting point. Then Chandos would go as far as possible and I would finish it out. By the time you finish your turn, you got to rest during 3 other people's turns and then you were up again. It was JUST enough time to rest. On the last set, Shawn and I went and Warren and Chandos rested. Of course, they were nice enough to move the weights back inside.

That's it. A big push tonight from within, some good PR's, some great training partners who said they would be coming back again, and I am ready for this show. I am ready. It feels good to say that. Up until now, I have been just training for various HG, strongman, and grip competitions real lazy-like. Like my mindset was that I would just try to do the best I can and found a way to make myself accept not giving it my all. Like my past performances and hard work would somehow pull me through. When people ask me if I was going to win a contest I was entering, I would always say "Well, I'll do my best and see what happens." Now I can say "I have really been training my ass off and expect to win" If I don't win I won't be disappointed because I will have given it my all.

Wednesday - Sled pulling, light overhead, light good mornings, then rest. Let's do it.

[Patrick McGuffin]

Nice to hear about all the pr's , it gives me motivation to go out and train! With all the training you should be ready to go against Dan and his F.R.S.! :D

[Dan Harrison]

Dude...nice F-ing stone load! Now that you've overcome the mental barrier of the 350 stone, you will be handling it at-will. I can't wait to hear everything about this saturday and about how you humiliated everyone else.

[Lance Peterson]

That is a GREAT attitude to have man. Things are looking really good!

[ClayEdgin]

Spanks a bunch, Lance.

"Going through the motions"

Shawn has been working 6 days a week, 12 hours a day so he opted to sit out tonight and we understood. Chan showed up right on time with an enthusiasm for the workout that I wasn't expecting. He borrowed my copy of Dinosaur Training on Sunday and is nearly finished with it, so he came into the gym tonight wanting to f--- up some weights. In fact, it was such a contagious feeling I had to calm down and redo some sets so I could stick the weights better.

Push Press:
135x5, 185x3, 225x3, 225x3 (better), 275x0x0x, 255x0x0, 225x5

I just have to concentrate on what I'm doing and those numbers will go up. After the contest this weekend, I'll be doing my partials in the rack again along with some narrow grip 3 board presses and front squats. Chan smoked 165x2 and then barely missed 175, so that is his weight to beat next time.

3 1/2" bar partial deadlift in rack (double overhand):
140x5, 185x5 (PR), 205x3 (PR), 185x5 plus long hold

Chan was in the mood to try something grip intensive so we opted to give this lift a shot. 185 has stumped me before but I hoisted it solid tonight. 205 came up easier than I thought too. The secret....is just to grab it. Chan worked up to 155x3 I think.

Good mornings:
135x5, 185x5, 225x5, 225x20 (PR)

I thought I had counted 13 and when I asked Chan what the count was he said 9, so I went with nine. I either did 20 or 24 reps. Hard enough to count as hard work but not too hard to where it is going to hurt me on Saturday. I was probably wrong on the 13 reps thing anyways! Chan worked up to 205x5. I hope he feels it tomorrow because I know I will!

Sled pull forward:
100lbsx100ft, 200lbsx100ft

That's it. Chan couldn't quite get the belt to sit comfortably around his stomach on the 200lb pull so we pulled off 100lbs and he went the distance.

2 hand plate pinch:
up to 130x2

Nothing hard really. My best is 193 so this is way below a max effort. Chan stalled out at this weight but he got it to hover briefly so he should get it soon.

Another good one. Nothing too strenuous, had a couple good PR's, and of course made sure to get my sled pulling in.

[ClayEdgin]

I couldn't sleep for shit last night. I'm going to eat some oatmeal, load up the truck, get Shawn and then we're headed up to Las Vegas to do battle.

I know that I know what I'm doing. I've done all the events and know how to approach them. I know most of my competitors. But I'm nervous because I don't want to fail. I have to adopt the mindset today that I will give it 100% on EVERY event, never pulling up to conserve energy, and that will be enough to help me win it. Shawn even has a shot at taking the middleweights.

[Lance Peterson]

Good luck man!!!!

[Patrick McGuffin]

Good luck !! and have a good time :)

[ClayEdgin]

Thanks guys. I just put a writeup in the contests results section.

[Patrick McGuffin]

Nice job :), shawn's a monster , make sure to tell him he is a :F:

[CharlesDMickey]

Hey Clay,

Just wondering how that Maximizer stone is holding up? I went to the website and you cant get the stuff in CA.

[ClayEdgin]

The maximizer stone is doing well. We never give it a chance to fall on anything harder than car tires either.

"More Lower Body Massacre"

Squats:
Me: 135x5, 135x5, 185x5, 225x5, 275x5, 315x1
Shawn: 135x5, 185x5, 225x5, 275x5 (PR)
Chan: 135x5, 135x5, 185x5, 225x5, 225x5, 275x1, 300x2 (first time squatting since high school)

My legs were hurting after 225 because I was bouncing out of rock bottom, or as far as rock bottom as my super-ass will allow. 315 to rock bottom wasn't as bad as I thought, so it's time to try 335. Plus, I need to be dunking five plates already but I have put off squatting because it's hard. What kind of mindset is that? Shawn, like a dumb-dumb, jumped off a small roof today at work and his already-aching knee was hurting more.

Axle clean and press - clean each rep:
Me: 140x5, 160x5, 210x2, 250x0x1
Shawn: 140x5, 160x5, 210x0, 160x4
Chan: 140x5, 160x5, 210x0, 140x5

For reasons I can't explain, my right arm is always struggling to lock out the weight compared to the left arm. I'm right handed and my strict dumbbell press numbers are higher for the right. I think the guys realized how tough this exercise is compared to taking the bar out of the rack so I'd like to continue doing these.

Good Mornings:
Me: 135x5, 185x5, 225x5, 275x5, 315x2, 365x1 (PR) 405x5 (Big PR)
Shawn: 135x5, 185x5, 225x5, 225x5
Chan: 135x5, 185x5, 225x5, 275x5 (PR)

Everything up to 315 was fast and I cut the set short so I could find a PR. The first rep of 405 was shallow, but the rest were nice and solid. "Get it off me" was the only thing I could say after finishing the fifth rep. Shawn threw up some water, ketchup, and a little bit of meat loaf between his sets of 225.

Strict Curl:
Me: 65x5, 95x5, 105x5
Shawn: 65x5, 95x5, 105x3 plus two assisted reps
Chan: 65x5, 95x5 not full reps, 65x5

Curls on a 7' bar hurt our wrists, so Chan is going to use his super duper "I work at a gym and can get free stuff" connections to help us out with an ez-curl bar.

Sled backwards:
Me: 3 50ft trips @ 100lbs, 3 50ft trips @ 200lbs
Shawn: 2 50ft trips @100lbs, 2 50ft trips @200lbs plus 20ft
Chan: 2 50ft trips @100lbs, 2 50ft trips @200lbs

Pulling that sled backwards with 200lbs uphill is very tough. But we did it so I'm thinking another 25lb plate needs to be added to the stack.

More details later. I feel sick.

I felt horrible last night. The bloating and soreness in my legs is still pretty bad and it caused me a lot of lost sleep. I think we did good last night in our first workout since the contest. Chan and Shawn said they weren't sore after the contest but I was hurting until yesterday morning!

[Jay O'Neill]

how did the contest Go?

[ClayEdgin]

I put a writeup of it in the Contests section :)

[ClayEdgin]

Event training:

A good day today.

Atlas stones to 53":
Me: 180kegx2, 230x1, 265kegx1, 290x1, 320x1, 350x1 (PR at this height)
Shawn: 180kegx1, 230x2 and some squats, 290x0 (lapped)
Chan: 180kegx2, 230x1, 290x0

A mere 6" looks gigantic when comparing 47" to 53" on a platform. I think I can get 59" with the 350 but will have to be fresher than I was today to pull it off. I started the workout today still sore from Wednesday's squatting and such. Shawn and Chan couldn't quite get the stones to come up today.

FW and keg carry medley - weight listed per hand for 40ft:
Me: 300/180keg in 15 seconds, 300/265keg in 18 seconds, 390/265keg in 34 seconds (PR)
Shawn: 275/180keg in 39, 275/265keg in 37, 275/265 keg in 35 seconds (PR)
Chan: 250/180keg in 40-something, 250/180keg in 1:40, 210/180keg

Now this was a fun event. I had never walked more than 350 per hand for 27', so rumbling 45 feet with 390 per hand was damn near a spiritual experience. I didn't think I could lift it and I didn't think I could hang onto it. I should stop doubting myself! Now I see a 400lb/50ft walk being possible very soon. Shawn had never walked with this much weight before and struggled on the first trip. Chan is still coming up so he used straps on the runs with 250 and then went strapless on 210. He says he's never lifted that much weight before and he did a great job handling it.

Tire flip 800lbs:
Me: 6 flips
Shawn: 6 flips
Chan: 2 flips (PR)

Despite the fact it was a little over 90 outside, we got rained out during this event. The rain stopped after we rolled the tires back inside. Of course. Chan struggled with the technique but was able to muscle over two flips. He made significant improvements today in the tire.

We started to do axle deadlifts but we were at about 60% of our normal strength capacity and were laughing about how much we were sucking on the lifts. Shawn and Chan both got 340 with a mixed grip, and I jumped to 540 and failed fantastically.

[ClayEdgin]

Sweet Squatting Splendor.

Squats:
Me: 225x5, 275x3, 315x2, 365x1, 405x1, 455x1, 500x1 (PR)
Shawn: 135x5, 185x5, 225x5, 275x2, 225x1
Chan: 135, 185, 225, 275 (all x5), 315x2 (PR), 335x0

Bent over rows:
Me: 135x5, 185x5, 225x5, 275x5, 225x5
Shawn: 135x5, 185x5x5x5
Chan: 135x5, 185x5x5x5
Kevin: 95x5x5x5

How the hell does Dan Harrison do so much friggin weight on this exercise?

Push Press:
Me: 135x5, 185x5, 225x2, 275x0x0x0
Shawn: 135x5, 165x1, 135x10x10
Chan: 135x5, 155x2, 135x10
Kevin: 55x8, 65x5x5

Sled forwards:
Me: 147.5x100ft, 195x100ft, 250x100ft (PR)
Shawn: 147.5x100ft, 195x100ft
Chan: 147.5x100ft, 195x100ft backwards
Kevin: 45x100ft, 92.5x100ftx2 trips

So I get under the bar at 315 and it feels like 135. 405 feels like cake. 455 (my previous PR) went up and down solid, so I had Shawn and Chan spot me as I went for 500. I got it with some gas in the tank. I tried for a second rep but stalled out halfway up. I was content to end the workout right there! I thought I had 275 locked out overhead but it fell just short.

Kevin, a 16 year old kid weighing a buck 30 from up the street who threatened to come train with us a month ago, showed up unannounced tonight so we put him to work. He's a boxer and got a lot of good work in on the sled tonight. He seems to respond well to being told to pull faster/harder on the sled and since he's already an athlete I bet he is easier to coach than anyone just off the street. He said he'd be back Sunday to train the events. I bet he'd be sick strong and conditioned for boxing if he trained the events with us.

Chan tested our bodyfats tonight with his skin fold calipers and I came in right at 30% and Shawn was 21% I'd rather be at 21%, personally.

[Dan Harrison]

Nice squatting. I think you have the potential to be a huge squatter. Just have to keep at it and keep piling on the 45s.

Oh and about the rows, don't forget my FRS.

[ClayEdgin]

Thanks Dan. I never considered myself a natural squatter and have always had to work for gains in that lift. Then again, until just a couple months ago I thought I knew what "hard work" was.

As a nice surprise, I got to train my wife and her best friend, who is also Shawn's wife. No, you sickos, not like that. They wanted to give it a shot so I put them through the motions. I'll post their workouts here as well. We gotta whole team going on here!!! Today I put up a dry erase board with names of the people who train at the garage and their best lifts in certain disciplines. I hope hanging it within eyeshot of the rack will motivate people even more. The guys loved it, I know that.

Event day

Stones all to 47":
Clay: 175kegx2, 230x1, 290x1, 320x1, 350x1
Shawn: 175kegx2, 230x2, 290x1 (ties PR), lapped 320 (PR)
Chan: 175kegx2, 230x3, lapped 290 (PR)

That 350 is cake now. I'm creating a video of it for posting while I'm typing this. Having the platform lower I think helped a little mental block Shawn and Chan had from last week. In the video of Shawn doing the 290, he barely skims the ledge of the platform on the way up because it slid down his shirt a bit. Chan is learning more techniques on the stones. Once it clicks, he'll be loading the 290 faster than Shawn. Shawn doesn't think a 320lb stone is possible for him so I'll have to figure out a way to slap that notion out of his head.

Farmer's walk - 50ft:
Clay: 160x2, 280x2, 405x8'2" (PR)
Shawn: 160x2, 280x2 (PR), 285x1 (PR)
Chan: 160x2, 210x2
Kelli: 70x50ft, x100ft, 90x100ft (PR), 90x50ft in 13.10 seconds
Jen: 70x50ft, x100ft, 90x100ft (PR), 90x50ft in 13.53 seconds

Well, I wanted to surpass 17', which was a mark set by Ricky LaRocca and is considered an unofficial WR. Shawn and Chan were saying "Well, you did do stones beforehand" and "you did a lot of warmup sets" but there's no excuse - I just didn't do it, and I'm willing to accept that. However, I'm inspired to get after it again next week. The liftoff wasn't as bad as I thought. We all put in some SOLID work on the FW tonight. Kelli is my wife, and Jen is Shawn's wife. Neither one had done this before and I was impressed with how well they both did. I'll need to get them some good gloves for lifting those rusty knurled handles. I timed the girls to add a little fun into the mix, not because I expected them to be competitive with each other, but I wanted something to refer back to when I time them again and note their improvement.

Tire flip 500lb:
Kelli: 2 assisted flips
Jen: 3 assisted flips

It's unfair to expect both women who have never trained before to flip this tire on their own, so I was there to support the tire and help lift it a little. The first time they both lifted it I helped a lot but the more they got used to it, the less I had to help. I let go a little when Kelli was doing her second attempt and she got it the rest of the way over, but I was there to catch it if she or it fell. You can't imagine the satisfaction they felt when they pushed that thing over! I was very motivated myself.

Overhead press - men strict, women push press:
Clay: 95x5, 115x5, 165x5, 185x5, 200x3
Shawn: 95x5, 115x5, 135x5, 155x2
Chan: 95x5, 115x5, 115x5, 125x5
Kelli: 45x5, x5, 50x3
Jen: 45x5, x5, 50x5

I think now the girls were getting into it more. On the third set of presses they both used leg drive and the bar was flying up. I tried to talk them into more sets but it wasn't happening :) Jen was going to do 3 reps like Kelli but she kept going for 5.

Ring the bell (partial PP in rack):
Clay: 225x3, 275x1, 315x1, 345x0x0 (six attempts)
Shawn: 225x0x0x0 (11 attempts), 185x1
Chan: 185x0x0x0 (9 attempts), 155x1

Sled backwards:
Clay: 100lbs x 100ft, 202.5 x 50ft x 2 trips, 250 x 50ft x 2 trips (PR), 147.5 x 100ft in one trip
Shawn: 100lbs x 100ft, 202.5 x 50ft x 2 trips, 250 x 50ft x 2 trips (PR)
Chan: 100lbs x 100ft, 202.5 x 50ft x 2 trips

I've never pushed so hard on the sled in my life. After my second trip with 250 I had to sit for a few moments. I asked the guys if they were done, which they were, so I went again with 147.5 for 50ft and back without stopping. Then I laid down in the street for a while. I heard someone driving by say "Is he alright?" and I think Chan said "He's doing better now!" or something like that. My legs kept buckling and all I wanted was for the blood to stop blowing up my quads!

Squats, floor presses, and perhaps good mornings Wednesday. The guys keep trying to get out of sled dragging but dammit if we're there training that day we're going to be dragging the friggin sled! I made them a deal for next Sunday though - we'll do two sets at a FW/sled medley and get both exercises out of the way.

[ClayEdgin]

Squats and Squat lockouts

Chan came over early and brought the Argon that we needed for my MIG welder and I tried my hand at remembering how to weld. Right when I got it looking good, the nozzle that goes from the tank to the welder kept popping off so I said screw it and waited for Shawn. Shawn fixed the nozzle and welded the yoke! This thing feels quite solid. We took some runs up the street with it at 10pm using just 4-45's, as there are four places to load the weights. The way it was designed, if someone can't walk the thing back into the house, we'll turn it 90 degrees and use the plates as wheels to roll it back inside :) While Shawn welded, we squatted or at least tried to in between helping Shawn.

Squats:
Me: 225x5, 275x5, 315x3, 405x1, 455x1, 500x0
Chan: 135x3, 185x3, 225x3, 275x3, 315x1, 345x1 (PR), 365x0

Whereas I belt up and use wraps on the heavier weights, Chan foregoes all the support equipment. He got a good squat tonight and missed something that he will get soon.

Squat lockouts in rack with axle:
Me: 270, 360, 450, 540, 630, 720, 810, 880, 1000 - all x 3 except for 1000 which was x2
Chan: 270, 360, 450, 540, 630x0

There is definitely some technique to this other than just getting under the bar and standing up and we spent some time showing Chan the ropes. He was able to lift his contest weight for the yoke event.

This Sunday we're heading up to Las Vegas, NM early to borrow a friend's log and then will start training at noon. We'll hit log, yoke (woohoo!), stones, and sled. Maybe something else if we feel like it. When we first started training the strongman events a couple months ago, we could only do one or maybe two exercises without being totally dead. Now we've done 5 events in a day and felt alright. I think we should cap it at 5 events and if there is more gas in the tank after we're done, we'll just do more sets of those 5 events.

[James Smith]

Been off the boards for a while Clay, anyway cool log, I started one myslef today. This board seems to have good responses to training logs making posting an online log wortwhile. I usually just keep track for myslef and don't bother posting but I am gonna give it a try here and see if there is any interest. Anyway man I look forward to following your log and well as Checking in on Dan. Later man, I hope we can help eachother out in the future and put our past behind us.

[ClayEdgin]

Yo James, good to see you here!

"Back attack"

Today Alex (strongwoman from the Las Vegas comp) and her significant other Robert came out so we had a good group moving weights around. Today we also broke in the yoke. Robert and Alex impressed me today; I don't know, I guess I'm always impressed with someone when they stick with something near their max and finish it out. Shows character, and I make an effort to surround myself with people of character. Alex has only a few months of formal strongwoman training but I think has been active in other sports all her life. Robert is an amateur bodybuilder looking to get his pro card soon. The guy is about 200lbs with maybe 4-5% bodyfat and his next show is in 6 weeks. He hadn't planned on lifting today and was here for Alex but he got into it and I think he'll be back again.

Push Press:
Me: 95x5, 135x5, 185x5, 225x2, 275x1
Chan: 95x5, 135x5, 155x3, 175x1 (ties pr), 185x0
Alex: I think she worked up to 65x6
Robert: Worked up to 115x6 and then 135x3 (PR)

Robert said he has only recently began doing overhead pressing 135 was the heaviest he's ever gone. We all did good on these I think. Normally I press the bar while it is hovering under my chin but today since the bar was set lower for Alex to unrack it, I had to let it rest on my chest and I usually have a hard time pressing the weight from there. I think I should stick with the ring the bell partials for like 6 weeks and see what happens outside the rack.

Yoke:
Me: 260x50ftx2, 440x50ftx2, 540x50ft, 620x50ft - no drops on any runs
Chan: 260x50ftx2, 440x50ftx2, 540x5ft
Alex: 180x50ftx2, 220x50ft
Robert: 260x50ftx2, 440x50ftx2
Shawn: 260x50ftx2, 440x50ftx2, 540x45ft

The yoke is a fixed height so while it is nice for people under 6', the cross bar was right below my pec line so it was a harder squat. I've been pretty hard on my back lately with heavy squats, farmers, squat lockouts, and now the yoke so I think I'll go lighter for a little while.

Tire:
This was relatively disorganized so I don't know how many times anyone did anything. I know Chan did the 800 lb tire 6 times and that is a PR. Alex was close to getting the 500 over. I was there to spot and wasn't doing much lifting. Once someone can get the tire to their knee, they have to believe that they will finish it out. Jeniffer came out of the house to give it another shot. I put a board underneath the tire and she was able to flip it that way! Just once though, and it was a 2 minute ordeal that left her spent. Still, she was satisfied!

We did a tire medley where you flip the 500lb tire twice and then do the 800lb tire twice. I struggled more than I should on the 800lb tire and finished in 20 seconds. I'll be happy with 14 seconds, maybe faster.

Sled backwards:
Me: 100x50ftx2, 202.5x50ftx2, 305x50ft (PR), 247.5x50ft
Chan: 100x50ftx2, 202.5x50ftx2, 247.5x50ft
Robert: 100x50ftx2, 202.5x50ft
Alex: 100x50ftx2
Shawn: 100x50ftx2, 202.5x50ftx2

The sled is such a killer, but I love it. I love it like I love the pain of a tattoo needle or a slap on a sunburn.

Aside from that, I spent a total of about 12 hours completing the world's longest tune-up. The air filter and oil change took about 20 minutes total, but getting to the spark plugs was an affair I'd like to forget. I ended up making 3 trips to the parts store, using several ratchet extensions, and rethreading the hole in the engine block. That truck purrs like a kitten now.

[George Champlin]

Yo James, good to see you here!

"Back attack"

Today Alex (strongwoman from the Las Vegas comp) and her significant other Robert came out so we had a good group moving weights around. Today we also broke in the yoke. Robert and Alex impressed me today; I don't know, I guess I'm always impressed with someone when they stick with something near their max and finish it out. Shows character, and I make an effort to surround myself with people of character. Alex has only a few months of formal strongwoman training but I think has been active in other sports all her life. Robert is an amateur bodybuilder looking to get his pro card soon. The guy is about 200lbs with maybe 4-5% bodyfat and his next show is in 6 weeks. He hadn't planned on lifting today and was here for Alex but he got into it and I think he'll be back again.

Push Press:
Me: 95x5, 135x5, 185x5, 225x2, 275x1
Chan: 95x5, 135x5, 155x3, 175x1 (ties pr), 185x0
Alex: I think she worked up to 65x6
Robert: Worked up to 115x6 and then 135x3 (PR)

Robert said he has only recently began doing overhead pressing 135 was the heaviest he's ever gone. We all did good on these I think. Normally I press the bar while it is hovering under my chin but today since the bar was set lower for Alex to unrack it, I had to let it rest on my chest and I usually have a hard time pressing the weight from there. I think I should stick with the ring the bell partials for like 6 weeks and see what happens outside the rack.

Yoke:
Me: 260x50ftx2, 440x50ftx2, 540x50ft, 620x50ft - no drops on any runs
Chan: 260x50ftx2, 440x50ftx2, 540x5ft
Alex: 180x50ftx2, 220x50ft
Robert: 260x50ftx2, 440x50ftx2
Shawn: 260x50ftx2, 440x50ftx2, 540x45ft

The yoke is a fixed height so while it is nice for people under 6', the cross bar was right below my pec line so it was a harder squat. I've been pretty hard on my back lately with heavy squats, farmers, squat lockouts, and now the yoke so I think I'll go lighter for a little while.

Tire:
This was relatively disorganized so I don't know how many times anyone did anything. I know Chan did the 800 lb tire 6 times and that is a PR. Alex was close to getting the 500 over. I was there to spot and wasn't doing much lifting. Once someone can get the tire to their knee, they have to believe that they will finish it out. Jeniffer came out of the house to give it another shot. I put a board underneath the tire and she was able to flip it that way! Just once though, and it was a 2 minute ordeal that left her spent. Still, she was satisfied!

We did a tire medley where you flip the 500lb tire twice and then do the 800lb tire twice. I struggled more than I should on the 800lb tire and finished in 20 seconds. I'll be happy with 14 seconds, maybe faster.

Sled backwards:
Me: 100x50ftx2, 202.5x50ftx2, 305x50ft (PR), 247.5x50ft
Chan: 100x50ftx2, 202.5x50ftx2, 247.5x50ft
Robert: 100x50ftx2, 202.5x50ft
Alex: 100x50ftx2
Shawn: 100x50ftx2, 202.5x50ftx2

The sled is such a killer, but I love it. I love it like I love the pain of a tattoo needle or a slap on a sunburn.

Aside from that, I spent a total of about 12 hours completing the world's longest tune-up. The air filter and oil change took about 20 minutes total, but getting to the spark plugs was an affair I'd like to forget. I ended up making 3 trips to the parts store, using several ratchet extensions, and rethreading the hole in the engine block. That truck purrs like a kitten now.


Sounds like quite a day!

[ClayEdgin]

The Wive's Workout:

Push Press:
Kelli: 45x5, 50x5 (PR), 55x5 (PR), 55x6 (PR)
Jen: 45x5, 50x5, 55x5 (PR), 55x6 (PR)

Kelli was throwing up the weight tonight and made them look easy. I'd guess she's good for 90-100 for a single although she wouldn't believe me if I told her that.

Farmer's Walk on 2" handles (weight listed per hand)
Kelli: 90x100ft, 95x50ft (PR)
Jen: 90x100ft, 95x50ft (PR)

90 was a breeze for both of them but 95 definitely made a difference. Jen has like 6" hands so the 2" handles were a big challenge. Kelli's hands are actually about 7 3/4" but her middle finger and thumb touch together on the 2" handle, even through workout gloves.

Yoke:
Kelli: 80x100ft, 120x50ft
Jen: 80x100ft, 120x50ft

I need to find a good way to pad the bar for their necks I think. Alex yesterday used a towel but I forgot about doing that today.

Sled backwards:
Kelli: 95x50ftx2
Jen: 95x50ftx2

They were both game to pull the sled tonight, and I happily loaded weights and walked alongside during their pulls.

A very good workout tonight. They are both more enthusiastic about doing this twice a week and I'm proud of their progress so far.

[rob meulenberg]

Farmer's walk - 50ft:
Clay: 160x2, 280x2, 405x8'2" (PR)
Shawn: 160x2, 280x2 (PR), 285x1 (PR)
Chan: 160x2, 210x2
Kelli: 70x50ft, x100ft, 90x100ft (PR), 90x50ft in 13.10 seconds
Jen: 70x50ft, x100ft, 90x100ft (PR), 90x50ft in 13.53 seconds

Well, I wanted to surpass 17', which was a mark set by Ricky LaRocca and is considered an unofficial WR.


Clay, you should have come out with us a few weeks back. Ricky has set a new bar on the Farmer's...he took 400 for about 40-50'. I think he was good for 80' fresh. Good training to you.

[ClayEdgin]

Geez Rob that's awesome! I figured it out, and after paying $3 per gallon each way and losing two days wages from not working, I'd have been out about $500 bucks.

"Variety Show"

Push Press:
Me: 135x5, 185x5, 230x2, 270x1, 305x0x0
Chan: 115x5, 135x5, 180x0 (six times) then he got it

It's sad how much I've stagnated on this stuff. I think I need some more assitance stuff.

Squats:
Me: 365x2, 405x1, 455x1, 505x2 (PR)
Chan: 135x5, 185x5, 225x5, 275x3, 315x1, 365x0
Shawn: 135x5, 185x5, 225x5, 275x3 (2 forced reps)

I spent most of the night dicking around with my squat suit. I really think it is too tight since I can't get it high enough around my thighs and hips. And when I squatted down, my knees would come together so I think my hips are weak. I'll see if I can trade the suit in for a larger size. I never used the suit, so the PR was with belt and wraps.

Windmills
Me: 20 right handed with 32kg kettlebell, 20 lefty with 24kg bell
Chan: 20 right with 24kg, 5 left
Shawn: 20 right and 20 left with 24kg bell

It was a pleasure to introduce this core torture.

Kettlebell snatches:
All: 20 snatches with 24kg with either hand.

Then we spent some time practicing the WOB event for the McPherson contest with the 24kg kettlebell. It isn't the same feel, but the technique is important to get right.

This Sunday we're hitting stones, farmers, yoke/keg medley, sled, and who knows what else.

[ClayEdgin]

Wive's Workout:

Push Press:
Kelli: 50x5, 55x5, 60x5 (PR) 65x5 (PR)
Jen: 50x5, 55x5, 60x5 (PR) 65x3 (PR)

Neither one believed they could do more, but were surprised that they got as many reps. I told them so! haha

Deadlift:
Kelli: 65x5, 95x5, 135x4
Jen: 65x5, 95x5, 135x5, 155x1

Roman chair back extensions:
Jen: 10

Kelli opted to not do these, but Jen tried.

Sled:
Kelli: 70x50ftx2
Jen: 70x50ftx2

[ClayEdgin]

Big group today - Warren, Robert, Alex, Chan, myself and Travis who I met at the Albuquerque contest in May. We got through stones, yoke, farmers, sled, and a little grip work in just over 3 hours. As happens from time to time, we got rained out before doing the sled so we did the grip work inside then. Shawn wasn't able to make it because his wife was sick today and he was on baby duty. Real life always comes first.

Stones to 47":
Me: 175kegx2, 230x2, 290x1, 320x1, 350x1
Chan: 175kegx2, 230x1
Travis: 175kegx4, 230x2, 290x0 (lapped twice though)
Alex: nearly lapped 175keg
Robert: lapped 230 but couldn't stand with it.

I was inside for part of the stone lifting so I might have missed some lifts. The 350 is nothing now. I think 380 would go up and I think 400 is possible by the end of the year.

Farmer's walk for 80ft: (weight listed per hand)
Me: 160 in 9 seconds, 210 in 10 seconds, 260 in 11 seconds
Chan: 160, 210, 240 (PR)
Travis: 160, 210, 240
Alex: 70, 90, 120 (PR)
Robert: 160, 210
Warren: 160, 210, 240

I'm not sure what everyone else's times were. I was trying to hustle as fast as possible on the farmers and was really feeling good about my speed. At our next comp in two weeks, I have to do 260 for 80 ft and it's a straight sprint, so I think sub-10 seconds would be sweet. Not too long ago, Chan wasn't able to lift 250 per hand without straps and even then he had a really hard time lifting it. Today he smoked it and finished without any drops. Warren weighs a buck eighty five and really busted his ass on the farmers. Got a lot heart, that one does. Travis is a real strong dude too.

Yoke for 50ft:
Me: 360 in 7 seconds, 440 in 9 seconds, 600 in 11 seconds (PR), 600 for maybe 25 feet.
Chan: 360, 440, 550 (PR)
Travis: 360, 440, 550
Alex: 180, 230 (PR)
Robert: 360x2 runs, 440x1 (PR)
Warren: 360, 440, 550 for maybe 10ft

Hard to believe how much more stable we all are on the yoke compared to last week. For me, the hardest part continues to be standing with the weight but once I get going I feel like bald headed freight train! I paid the price in pain last week so I'm glad those sore stabilizers got stronger.

Sled backwards:
Me: 100x100ft, 205x100ft, 247.5x50ft, 300x50ft (ties PR), 347.5x50ft (PR), then 300x40ft
Chan: 100x100ft, 205x100ft, 247.5x50ftx2 trips I think (PR)
Travis: 100x100ft, 205x100ft, 247.5x50ft, 300x50ft
Alex: 100x100ft, 100x50ft
Warren: 100x100ft, 205x100ft (I think, might have been 50), 247.5x50ft

I did not want to pull the sled today but before I knew it I was already grabbing the handle and leaning back. I'm glad I did it though. When Travis fought through 300 and I took it back, I knew I had to improve on my PR because 300 wasn't that bad. 347.5 was just nuts. I was leaning back so far it was hard to pick my feet up and put them down again because of the extreme angle. Halfway through, I wanted to quit. My back started rounding and my lean lessened. Then my grip began to give. Out of the corner of my eye I saw the 50ft mark and I'll be damned if I'm going to friggin give up when I'm within eyesight of the finish line. I passed the line and laid down for a while. Someone pulled off a 45 and started to pull it downhill but didn't go any more than maybe 10 feet. Chan helped me up and held me up while we walked. As we passed the sled, I stood on my own and finished off the other person's pull at 300. That was truly painful. My legs were so pumped and toasted that I kept stumbling back under my own weight.

Afterwards I loaded my 260lb keg onto the platform and felt that was about all I had left in me. Travis said he'd like to go to Kansas to compete in two weeks so we now officially have a car full of people and can split the $3 per gallon gas four ways. This trip is going to rock. Next Friday is my birthday so I'll probably take it easy and hang with the family, but since next Saturday is one week before the contest, we're going to do an all out training day and then feast upon taquitos, beans, cheese and many other Mexican delights. Then I'll have a beer and go to bed.

[Dan Harrison]

I feel bad for the chick who has to sleep next to your big ass all loaded up with mexican power. And I feel bad for Kelli too.

One of your strong points is your diligence. You are focused on your workouts and you don't compromise yourslef with pussy weights and excuses as the false ones do. Whenever I am running with a yoke or heavy farmers, or a mean sled drag and demons whisper in my ear telling me to quit, it's your voice I hear in my ear saying "DON'T BE A PUSSY!" I swear it works every time.

Solid progress, big man. In your squat video, you are looking leaner, meaner, and more like a beaner every day.

(No offense to my hispanic friends. You know I love your women.)

[ClayEdgin]

Thanks dude. I am fine tuning my yelling skills with all the new guys around and they're still around so I guess I'm not yelling enough ;)

[Lance Peterson]

[QUOTE=ClayEdgin]I think 400 is possible by the end of the year. [QUOTE]

Holy crap!!! That would be awesome! :F: Do you use a belt on stones?

[ClayEdgin]

Thanks Lance. No, I don't use a belt since it seems to get in the way on stones. But for a 400lb stone, you better believe I'm slapping some serious tacky on! haha

[ClayEdgin]

Travis and Chan came out tonight. Shawn has to pull 12 hour days for the next 3 months straight if he wants to keep his company afloat so he won't be working out for a while. That really sucks for him because he won't get to see his 1 year old son until the weekend since he leaves when the boy is sleeping and gets home after he goes to bed...

Push Press:
Me: 185x5, 225x3, 245x1, 275x1, 305x0x0x0
Chan: 135x5, 155x5, 185x0 (missed it 11 times!) then got x1 (PR)
Travis: 135x5, 155x5, 185x5, 225x3, 245x1 (PR)

Maybe I should take a lesson from Chan and keep trying a weight I fail with and eventually I will get it! He was very happy to have finally put this weight up overhead.

Deadlifts:
Me: 225x5, 365x1, 405x1, 495x2, 610x0x0
Chan: 225x5, 275x5, 315x1, 365x0, 345x1 (PR)
Travis: 225x5, 275x5, 315x3, 365x3, 405x0

Travis is a sumo puller and has done 495 before but says that was quite some time ago. I was trying out my Centurion suit tonight to see how it would help my deadlifts. 495 flew up pretty dang fast both conventional and sumo, but the belt on 610 kept pressing into my stomach making it so I couldn't breathe. Sad to think that I can't pull 5lbs over my raw PR with a squat suit! Every other lift has come up a lot since I pulled 605 but maybe it's a sign I need to pull more to get the technique right.

Floor presses - normal grip, reverse grip, normal grip, reverse grip:
Me: 135x30, x20, x18, x9
Chan: 115x20, x20, 95x14, x8
Travis: 135x20, x20, x20, x20

Travis used to be a long snapper so his triceps are not human.

Standing french presses:
Me: 75x20, x17, x14
Chan: 75x12, x9, x5
Travis: 75x20, x20, x20

Sled backwards:
We all did 100lbsx100ftx2 trips, 200lbsx100ftx2 trips

Sled for 100ft is much tougher than two 50ft trips back to back with the same weight!

Got one more training day left this Saturday. I want to make several runs through each event, going as fast as possible and timing each attempt. My 12" 220lb empty steel log was shipped yesterday by freight truck and should be here next week sometime, and the urge to go out there and clean and press it a couple days before the contest will have to be suppressed!

[George Champlin]

Nice session!

[SBaier]

Clay - I feel the same way about repeated attempts on weights I miss. Although I've never gone for 11 misses before (that shows some serious heart), I often go for as many as 3 or 4 before I consider it a loss. I normally get it on 2 or 3.

Workouts are looking good!

[Cory Strack]

Clay with the belt biting into you on the deadlift, trying pushing it down further in front. Pull of some of your gut and push down on the belt at the same time. The belt will kind of be slanted forward and you'll have a little bulge of gut over the top, but it helps to get down to the bar and not interfere with your wind when you are a bigger guy. It works for me, and it worked for a guy on the P&B board (Carnal). Good looking workouts.
Strack

[Lance Peterson]

I am in the same boat Clay, I had trouble with my belt for a long time. I finally settled on a high position in the dead and the front pushed down in the squat.

The workout looked great!

[ClayEdgin]

Last workout before McPherson Scottish Festival, and a good post-birthday session.

Push Press:
Me: 135x5, 185x5, 225x5, 275x1, 300x0
Chan: 135x5, 155x5, 190x0, 185x0
Travis: 135x5, 185x3, 225x1, 255x0
Alex: 45x8, 65x5x5x5, 70x4
Robert: 135x5x4x3x2
Warren: 135x5, 155x1, 185x0

Still pretty dang sore from Wednesday's tricep overkill.

Stones to 47"
Me: Same as before, up to 350
Chan: 175kegx3, 230x2
Travis: 175x3, 230x2, 290xALMOST!
Alex: lapped 175 keg (PR)
Robert: loaded 175 keg several times easily, and lapped my 350 stone without tacky!
Warren: 175 kegx2, 230x3, nearly lapped 290

Granted, there was some tacky residue from the rest of us using it, but the ease with which Robert lapped that 350 was scary. He weighs under 200 and is a bodybuilder, yet has some pretty strong legs. I got on Chan's ass today about doing the stones and he did well. He was loading the 230 4-5 times but after the last contest he really tore up his forearms and I think the memory of the pain was f-ing with his head. I think he's on the right track mentally.

Farmers 80ft runs: weight per hand...
Me: 210 in 11 seconds, 260 in 13 seconds, 260 in 11 seconds (PR)
Chan: 160, 210, 240x2 (no drops on second run)
Travis: 160, 210, 240x2
Alex: 100x2 trips with 2" handles
Robert: 160x2 trips with 2" handles, I think he did 210 also
Warren: 160, 210, 240

Good work by all. And unlike last week, nobody fell! haha I was destined for a sub 10 second run on my second trip but started to stumble and needed to slow down. My stability really wasn't there today, I think from the strain the deadlifts put on me Wednesday.

Yoke/Keg medley (40ft each way):
Me: 260/175, 440/175, 600/265, 550 yoke x 80ft, 600 yoke x 100ft (PR)
Chan: 260/175, 550x0, 550/265
Travis: 260/175, 440/175, 550x265
Alex: 180x100 per hand farmers twice
Robert: 260/175, 440 yoke
Warren: 260/175, 500/175

My first attempt with 600 crushed the crap out of me. I dropped it 4 or 5 times and felt so unstable that I wanted to quit on every step. Every step hurt so much. Afterwards, I went to the bathroom and by the time I got back out I was collected enough to try it again. Someone had just walked with 550 when I came back out so I sacked up and took it for 80 feet. Travis walked it back and said "Now you have to do 600 again!" so I did, but didn't really hit a stride until about 30ft into the run. His turn was motivating enough for me to take it for 100ft.

Sled backwards for 100ft:
Me: 100x2, 200x1, x80ft, x100ft
Chan: 100x2, 200x1, x50ft
Travis: 100x2, 200x1, x20ft, x100ft
Alex: 100x50ft, 200x12ft
Robert: dozen flips with the 500lb tire while we sledded
Warren: 100x2, 200x1

Afterwards we hung out for a little while. When the urge to lift came back again, we did push presses with the 3 1/2" thick bar and worked up to 160. Very tough on the core at this point. Then we worked some 2 hand pinch and I got up to 180 which I'd say was a 90% effort, then worked some thick handled deadlifts and vertical bar. After vertical bar, the food was ready and I grubbed like there was no tomorrow. Enchiladas, taquitos, beans, and topped it off with ice cream cake. Oh yeah.

I hurt right now; I can only imagine what the next 3 days will bring pain-wise.

[Mike Westerling]

Hey Clay,
I noticed on the nass website you are promoting a contest on dec 10th? What's it like out there? I'm thinking if I could talk my wife into taking the kids out there on vacation I may be able to enter. My wife is huge into the redrock canyons and stuff like that. Let me know if there is anything like that near where the show will be so I can get to work on her.
Thanks,
MIke

[ClayEdgin]

Mike, Albuquerque and its surrounding area are filled with all kinds of natural history things. Within about 20 minutes of my house there is a national park where a few volcanos (dormant) reside. I'm told there is also a natural history museum nearby. Rio Rancho, where I live, is on the edge of Albuquerque and right next to the Sandia Peak, which is 10,000+ high. If the family are game, they can take a tram ride to the top which I'm sure would be topped with snow and beautiful. Or they can take a 45 minute drive to Santa Fe where there are lots of art and history things. If your family skis, there will be some skiing on the other side of Sandia that I think you can get to from the tram.

There's also a fairly large two story mall in Albuquerque about 10 minutes from the Defined Fitness gym, as well as a lot of nice restaurants in that area.

The weather will be probably in the 40's and I hear that it snows maybe once or twice a month

[ClayEdgin]

Light night.

Overhead:
Me: up to 225x3 on a bar, 240x2 on 12" log
Chan: up to 175x1 on bar
Travis: up to 225x2 on bar, got 220lb log to clear his head.

Log is hard.

Yoke for 40ft:
Chan: 260, 440, 550 (one drop)
Travis: 260, 440, 550

No yoke for me. My back still aches.

Then we commenced the grip stuff. Worked some two hand pinch, vbar, one hand deadlifts using an apparatus similar to the European setup except my handle isn't knurled, and some levering. Hit some really good PR's I wasn't expecting. Even training grip full time, I've never been this strong...

[George Champlin]

Light night.

Overhead:
Me: up to 225x3 on a bar, 240x2 on 12" log
Chan: up to 175x1 on bar
Travis: up to 225x2 on bar, got 220lb log to clear his head.

Log is hard.

Yoke for 40ft:
Chan: 260, 440, 550 (one drop)
Travis: 260, 440, 550

No yoke for me. My back still aches.

Then we commenced the grip stuff. Worked some two hand pinch, vbar, one hand deadlifts using an apparatus similar to the European setup except my handle isn't knurled, and some levering. Hit some really good PR's I wasn't expecting. Even training grip full time, I've never been this strong...


Clay,
how bad is the heat compared to Cali?

[ClayEdgin]

We left Rio Rancho at 4:30pm and began to make our way through the beginnings of rush hour traffic. The only thing breaking up the monotony of the two lane highway were the towns every 10 miles. After being pulled over in Hooker, Oklahoma for looking suspicious, we got to the hotel in McPherson at 3:30 am local time and crashed into bed.

7:30 came very quickly. A McGriddle and half a hash brown fueled my performance on Saturday during the highland games. I have not thrown in about a year and was just barely an “A” level amateur when I was throwing regularly, so I threw with the A’s to get a feel for it again. I threw a PR in the light hammer with 98'5 and PR’ed in the heavy weight for distance at 31' 11". During the weight over bar, I missed 14' three times and tied for second in the event, but asked for another try just to see if I could make it after the event and I finally got it, which is a nice PR as well. Threw the light weight for distance 57', stone was 35' (suck!), and bombed out on the caber and sheaf. Both events are so technical that I wasn’t too disappointed. I had the caber at 90 degrees but it fell back towards me. Only 3 of the 7 A’s turned that caber, and two of them did it on their third attempt. I had never tried the sheaf before and bombed out at the opening height. Still, my consistent performance through the other events landed me in 3rd. I’ve never finished that high in the A’s before!

After the games, we went back to the hotel where I showered and we ate pizza like madmen. The hotel had a cool game room and we spent a couple hours shooting pool, playing ping pong (you haven’t played ping pong until you’ve played it while running throughout a giant game room, hurdling obstacles), and then finally relaxing in the hot tub for a while. Later we watched Wladimir Klitschko win a decision over Samuel Peter on HBO. Both days, the temperature was 90 degrees with 90-95% humidity and hotter than hell. One guy passed out during the log press and another nearly passed out during another event.

Sunday morning we got to the venue around 10:30 and warmed up a bit. I was very sore and tired from Saturday’s throwing but figured it would only hurt me a little. I was wrong! Haha 12" log was first and I stunk up the place by missing 250. Travis got 200 and Chan got 150 after a very long fight. The other SHW’s opened at 270 and I think one guy got 290. So even if I got 250 I would have been last in the event. Farmers were next. Chan wasn’t able to stand with 240 per hand because the bars were set lower than ours and Travis finished in a respectable time. I was hoping to break 10 seconds but that didn’t quite happen. We were going head to head with other guys and I was doing well until I saw the other guy start to pull ahead. I started to pick up the pace and as soon as I did that I stumbled and fell, landing on the plates with my left knee. I finished out the event but I was hurting. My knee started swelling immediately and was tender through the day. It still hurts now. So 3rd in the log (out of 3 SHW’s) and 3rd in the farmers. We broke for lunch and came back for weight over bar. One SHW was throwing it probably 15' high but couldn’t get it over the bar, so I won with a toss of 12'6" and took 13' to see if I could still do it. I might have had 13'6 in me if I tried but decided to save my energy. Chan had trouble at the opening height and bombed, and Travis I think finished at 11'

The loading event was fun. There were six objects - 220lb stone, 200lb anvil, 240lb stone, 240lb anvil, 255lb keg, and 250lb fire hydrant - all loaded to 47". I finished all six in 17 seconds and won the event. Chan didn’t tacky up for the event and missed the 240 stone, ending his turn. Travis loaded all six in 26 seconds I think. I just realized that this is the third consecutive loading event I’ve won. By now my knee was swollen, stiff and aching. But with two first places finishes in a row and one event left, quitting wasn’t going to happen. I did want to quit, but I kept thinking about what Kaz said at the FitExpo earlier this year - that competitors quit too early when they’re hurt, and nobody is going to become a champion if they don’t fight through injuries once in a while.

The yoke/keg medley was a 600lb yoke for 40ft and then a 250# keg walked back 40ft. Chan and Travis used 550/225. Chan got halfway through the yoke but set the crossbar too high and he had a bad time walking with it, so he didn’t finish the event. Travis was able to finish the event but I don’t remember his time. I finished in 25 seconds, losing 2nd place by 1 second. Every step of the yoke was pounding my left knee in every possible direction. Thank God that was the last event! But just for good measure (and because being dumb is fun) I loaded their challenge stone - a 345lb hunk of granite - without tacky or chalk.

I finished 2nd in the SHW’s somehow. The drive back was long and horrible. Chan wanted a shot glass that said “KANSAS” on it so badly that we stopped at 10 different stores. That is no exaggeration. We counted 10 stores that we stopped at. There was an extra hour tacked onto our trip right there! Then we had to listen to “Alcohol” by Brad Paisely a million friggin times. Then we almost died a half dozen times when Mr. NASCAR Chan did things like pass big rigs on the shoulder, and pass others into oncoming traffic too close for comfort. Then when the gas gauge read below empty, I finally talked him into pulling into a gas station to fill up where he put in a whopping $4.00, which was like 1.3 gallons. Got home and into bed by 2am after 9.5 hours on the road. Home never felt so good!

[George Champlin]

We left Rio Rancho at 4:30pm and began to make our way through the beginnings of rush hour traffic. The only thing breaking up the monotony of the two lane highway were the towns every 10 miles. After being pulled over in Hooker, Oklahoma for looking suspicious, we got to the hotel in McPherson at 3:30 am local time and crashed into bed.

7:30 came very quickly. A McGriddle and half a hash brown fueled my performance on Saturday during the highland games. I have not thrown in about a year and was just barely an “A” level amateur when I was throwing regularly, so I threw with the A’s to get a feel for it again. I threw a PR in the light hammer with 98'5 and PR’ed in the heavy weight for distance at 31' 11". During the weight over bar, I missed 14' three times and tied for second in the event, but asked for another try just to see if I could make it after the event and I finally got it, which is a nice PR as well. Threw the light weight for distance 57', stone was 35' (suck!), and bombed out on the caber and sheaf. Both events are so technical that I wasn’t too disappointed. I had the caber at 90 degrees but it fell back towards me. Only 3 of the 7 A’s turned that caber, and two of them did it on their third attempt. I had never tried the sheaf before and bombed out at the opening height. Still, my consistent performance through the other events landed me in 3rd. I’ve never finished that high in the A’s before!

After the games, we went back to the hotel where I showered and we ate pizza like madmen. The hotel had a cool game room and we spent a couple hours shooting pool, playing ping pong (you haven’t played ping pong until you’ve played it while running throughout a giant game room, hurdling obstacles), and then finally relaxing in the hot tub for a while. Later we watched Wladimir Klitschko win a decision over Samuel Peter on HBO. Both days, the temperature was 90 degrees with 90-95% humidity and hotter than hell. One guy passed out during the log press and another nearly passed out during another event.

Sunday morning we got to the venue around 10:30 and warmed up a bit. I was very sore and tired from Saturday’s throwing but figured it would only hurt me a little. I was wrong! Haha 12" log was first and I stunk up the place by missing 250. Travis got 200 and Chan got 150 after a very long fight. The other SHW’s opened at 270 and I think one guy got 290. So even if I got 250 I would have been last in the event. Farmers were next. Chan wasn’t able to stand with 240 per hand because the bars were set lower than ours and Travis finished in a respectable time. I was hoping to break 10 seconds but that didn’t quite happen. We were going head to head with other guys and I was doing well until I saw the other guy start to pull ahead. I started to pick up the pace and as soon as I did that I stumbled and fell, landing on the plates with my left knee. I finished out the event but I was hurting. My knee started swelling immediately and was tender through the day. It still hurts now. So 3rd in the log (out of 3 SHW’s) and 3rd in the farmers. We broke for lunch and came back for weight over bar. One SHW was throwing it probably 15' high but couldn’t get it over the bar, so I won with a toss of 12'6" and took 13' to see if I could still do it. I might have had 13'6 in me if I tried but decided to save my energy. Chan had trouble at the opening height and bombed, and Travis I think finished at 11'

The loading event was fun. There were six objects - 220lb stone, 200lb anvil, 240lb stone, 240lb anvil, 255lb keg, and 250lb fire hydrant - all loaded to 47". I finished all six in 17 seconds and won the event. Chan didn’t tacky up for the event and missed the 240 stone, ending his turn. Travis loaded all six in 26 seconds I think. I just realized that this is the third consecutive loading event I’ve won. By now my knee was swollen, stiff and aching. But with two first places finishes in a row and one event left, quitting wasn’t going to happen. I did want to quit, but I kept thinking about what Kaz said at the FitExpo earlier this year - that competitors quit too early when they’re hurt, and nobody is going to become a champion if they don’t fight through injuries once in a while.

The yoke/keg medley was a 600lb yoke for 40ft and then a 250# keg walked back 40ft. Chan and Travis used 550/225. Chan got halfway through the yoke but set the crossbar too high and he had a bad time walking with it, so he didn’t finish the event. Travis was able to finish the event but I don’t remember his time. I finished in 25 seconds, losing 2nd place by 1 second. Every step of the yoke was pounding my left knee in every possible direction. Thank God that was the last event! But just for good measure (and because being dumb is fun) I loaded their challenge stone - a 345lb hunk of granite - without tacky or chalk.

I finished 2nd in the SHW’s somehow. The drive back was long and horrible. Chan wanted a shot glass that said “KANSAS” on it so badly that we stopped at 10 different stores. That is no exaggeration. We counted 10 stores that we stopped at. There was an extra hour tacked onto our trip right there! Then we had to listen to “Alcohol” by Brad Paisely a million friggin times. Then we almost died a half dozen times when Mr. NASCAR Chan did things like pass big rigs on the shoulder, and pass others into oncoming traffic too close for comfort. Then when the gas gauge read below empty, I finally talked him into pulling into a gas station to fill up where he put in a whopping $4.00, which was like 1.3 gallons. Got home and into bed by 2am after 9.5 hours on the road. Home never felt so good!


Long day but you finished 2nd overall?

[SBaier]

Great post Clay... I wish I could have been there!!

[Mike Westerling]

2 good placing's in 1 weekend doesn't exactly suck, huh? I hope the knee's okay.
-Mike

[D.J. Satterfield]

Hey Clay, you guys did a great job Sunday. I can only imagine how you felt after throwing on Saturday. It was nice meeting you guys, I head to the orthopedic doc. tomorrow for my calf so hope it isn't torn too bad. That yoke torched it but like an idiot I went on. Great job again, hopefully we'll see you guys at another meet.

[Jay O'Neill]

Great Post Clay!!! Congrats!
ICE and IBU my friend!

[Lance Peterson]

Sounds like a blast! Great job all around, that is alot of competing for 2 days!

[Patrick McGuffin]

sounds like fun!!!!great job on the loading!

[Dan Harrison]

Proud of you, man. Yeah you can't expect to do well at a strongman meet the day after a max effort throwing comp (or anything else strenuous). I won't do SH*T in the last couple days b4 a meet exceot plyometrics and some short sprints maybe. I eon't help people lift ANYTHING. If a piano fell on my grandma and I was competing the next day, I'd have to call a neighbor over to lift it off. Not touchin it!

Can't complain about 2nd though, dude. I think you are a Viking Warrior for telling your hurting knee to go to hell and continuing on like a Man. And I don't call many people Vikings. At all.

With rushing with the farmers, it's always a mistake. I messed up my farmers in Seattle doing that, and Odd recently at a meet, was owning Pudzianowski's ass on a heavy farmers walk and in a moment of foolishness, decided to REALLY beat him and started running. No drops were allowed, so when Odd lost control while running, he dropped them and spent the rest of the 60 seconds swearing in norse as he watched Pudz finish the course. Gotta move fast UNDER CONTROL.

Remind me never to let Chan drive me anywhere. I like being alive. I lie him already...a driver after my own heart.

See you at the Snowman, War Man.


We left Rio Rancho at 4:30pm and began to make our way through the beginnings of rush hour traffic. The only thing breaking up the monotony of the two lane highway were the towns every 10 miles. After being pulled over in Hooker, Oklahoma for looking suspicious, we got to the hotel in McPherson at 3:30 am local time and crashed into bed.

7:30 came very quickly. A McGriddle and half a hash brown fueled my performance on Saturday during the highland games. I have not thrown in about a year and was just barely an “A” level amateur when I was throwing regularly, so I threw with the A’s to get a feel for it again. I threw a PR in the light hammer with 98'5 and PR’ed in the heavy weight for distance at 31' 11". During the weight over bar, I missed 14' three times and tied for second in the event, but asked for another try just to see if I could make it after the event and I finally got it, which is a nice PR as well. Threw the light weight for distance 57', stone was 35' (suck!), and bombed out on the caber and sheaf. Both events are so technical that I wasn’t too disappointed. I had the caber at 90 degrees but it fell back towards me. Only 3 of the 7 A’s turned that caber, and two of them did it on their third attempt. I had never tried the sheaf before and bombed out at the opening height. Still, my consistent performance through the other events landed me in 3rd. I’ve never finished that high in the A’s before!

After the games, we went back to the hotel where I showered and we ate pizza like madmen. The hotel had a cool game room and we spent a couple hours shooting pool, playing ping pong (you haven’t played ping pong until you’ve played it while running throughout a giant game room, hurdling obstacles), and then finally relaxing in the hot tub for a while. Later we watched Wladimir Klitschko win a decision over Samuel Peter on HBO. Both days, the temperature was 90 degrees with 90-95% humidity and hotter than hell. One guy passed out during the log press and another nearly passed out during another event.

Sunday morning we got to the venue around 10:30 and warmed up a bit. I was very sore and tired from Saturday’s throwing but figured it would only hurt me a little. I was wrong! Haha 12" log was first and I stunk up the place by missing 250. Travis got 200 and Chan got 150 after a very long fight. The other SHW’s opened at 270 and I think one guy got 290. So even if I got 250 I would have been last in the event. Farmers were next. Chan wasn’t able to stand with 240 per hand because the bars were set lower than ours and Travis finished in a respectable time. I was hoping to break 10 seconds but that didn’t quite happen. We were going head to head with other guys and I was doing well until I saw the other guy start to pull ahead. I started to pick up the pace and as soon as I did that I stumbled and fell, landing on the plates with my left knee. I finished out the event but I was hurting. My knee started swelling immediately and was tender through the day. It still hurts now. So 3rd in the log (out of 3 SHW’s) and 3rd in the farmers. We broke for lunch and came back for weight over bar. One SHW was throwing it probably 15' high but couldn’t get it over the bar, so I won with a toss of 12'6" and took 13' to see if I could still do it. I might have had 13'6 in me if I tried but decided to save my energy. Chan had trouble at the opening height and bombed, and Travis I think finished at 11'

The loading event was fun. There were six objects - 220lb stone, 200lb anvil, 240lb stone, 240lb anvil, 255lb keg, and 250lb fire hydrant - all loaded to 47". I finished all six in 17 seconds and won the event. Chan didn’t tacky up for the event and missed the 240 stone, ending his turn. Travis loaded all six in 26 seconds I think. I just realized that this is the third consecutive loading event I’ve won. By now my knee was swollen, stiff and aching. But with two first places finishes in a row and one event left, quitting wasn’t going to happen. I did want to quit, but I kept thinking about what Kaz said at the FitExpo earlier this year - that competitors quit too early when they’re hurt, and nobody is going to become a champion if they don’t fight through injuries once in a while.

The yoke/keg medley was a 600lb yoke for 40ft and then a 250# keg walked back 40ft. Chan and Travis used 550/225. Chan got halfway through the yoke but set the crossbar too high and he had a bad time walking with it, so he didn’t finish the event. Travis was able to finish the event but I don’t remember his time. I finished in 25 seconds, losing 2nd place by 1 second. Every step of the yoke was pounding my left knee in every possible direction. Thank God that was the last event! But just for good measure (and because being dumb is fun) I loaded their challenge stone - a 345lb hunk of granite - without tacky or chalk.

I finished 2nd in the SHW’s somehow. The drive back was long and horrible. Chan wanted a shot glass that said “KANSAS” on it so badly that we stopped at 10 different stores. That is no exaggeration. We counted 10 stores that we stopped at. There was an extra hour tacked onto our trip right there! Then we had to listen to “Alcohol” by Brad Paisely a million friggin times. Then we almost died a half dozen times when Mr. NASCAR Chan did things like pass big rigs on the shoulder, and pass others into oncoming traffic too close for comfort. Then when the gas gauge read below empty, I finally talked him into pulling into a gas station to fill up where he put in a whopping $4.00, which was like 1.3 gallons. Got home and into bed by 2am after 9.5 hours on the road. Home never felt so good!

[Dan Harrison]

Where are your workouts, douche? Don't tell me you just stopped for a week or else your ass is grass.

[ClayEdgin]

Dude, I hurt like hell. I put SO much of myself into competing and travelling last weekend that I enjoyed my night off tonight. I haven't taken more than 3 days off in a row for a couple months and I can't wait to see how strong I come back on Sunday. We're going to rock the house. I'm looking for a 700lb yoke walk for 100ft for starters and LOTS of work on my log technique.

[Dan Harrison]

Stop being a woman! I'm doing the same thing though...3 days off and I'm gonna be an animal when i train on sun. Your nervous system will recover with a few consecutive days off, too.

[ClayEdgin]

I have been loading up on 250-300 grams of protein a day all week, sleeping as much as possible (I woke up at 11:30 this morning) and am itching to hit some weights tomorrow.

[Dan Harrison]

I have been loading up on 250-300 grams of protein a day all week, sleeping as much as possible (I woke up at 11:30 this morning) and am itching to hit some weights tomorrow.

I know EXACTLY how you're feeling. I am climbing the walls right now in anxiety for my training tomorrow. I can't stop shaking...

[ClayEdgin]

The week off was worth it. I was a little mentally fuzzy on technique but it came back pretty quick. Travis, Alex, and Robert came out today, although Robert didn't do much lifting since he is two weeks out from his next bodybuilding show.

Stones to 47":
Me: up to 350
Chan: 230x3, 290xalmost
Alex: 80lb keg for probably a dozen singles

Stones felt good today. 350 wasn't bad and I might have been able to get 360-370. I never did pour that big stone today so that will have to be on hold until I get some time.

Yoke for 50ft without drops:
Me: 360, 540, 720 (PR), 720x45ft
Travis: 360, 540x2 runs
Alex: 200x4 runs

Oh yeah, time to get heavy on the yoke. Baby steps keep me stable but keep me slow. I would have liked to have taken the 720 back 50ft again without dropping it though. Seems like I get about 30 ft into a run and then I start to hit a good stride. I'd like to be smoking 900lbs by December. Travis was game for 720 but couldn't take it more than a foot or so. Everyone is looking much more solid on the yoke. Alex was crushed by 200 not too long ago and now she is walking it without staggering or losing speed.

2" farmers walk for 100ft (weight per hand):
Me: 250, 300, 300 (PR)
Travis: 250x80ft, 210x2 runs
Alex: 100x4 runs

Felt good to not drop those weights on the 300lb walks. I started to sweat the grip a bit in the left hand on the second run but it held just fine I guess. Alex used struggle with making 100ft with 100lbs per hand just once, and today she did it four times. I don't think she realized how far she has come on that.

2500lb pickup truck pull for 100ft uphill
Me: 4 trips (2 with harness, one backwards, one with head harness)
Travis: 4 trips (2 with harness, one backwards, one with head harness)
Alex: 4 trips (3 with harness, one backwards)

After pulling the truck forwards and backwards we looked for something more challenging and I found an old neck lifting harness I had sitting around, so we clipped it to the chain on the truck and pulled. Seems like once in a while you have to do things that hurt more than they are productive just to make regular training easier. You know, you can bitch about that set of squats hurting but then say "Well, I guess it wasn't as bad as the time we pulled the truck with our head."

After that, some grip work. I missed a plate pinch PR by a little bit, travis hit 135 and that was a PR. Then we did some nail bending and Travis did a 60d while I coached. Then we did some card tearing and I managed to tear a deck longways, another the regular way, and then notch a corner out of a third deck. We finished off with some phonebook tearing.

So far I've managed to avoid crap food and increase my protein intake by quite a bit this week, so that's encouraging.

[Lance Peterson]

Killer workout big man. Keep plugging away and you will hit that 900lb yoke carry!

[D.J. Satterfield]

Good work Clay, you definitely put in a full days work. The farmers for 300# is pretty cool man.

[ClayEdgin]

Thanks guys. And DJ, I didn't even fall down during yesterday's workout! haha I have no reason to complain to you about injuries from the contest, but my knee was swollen and sore for days after falling with the FW bars in McPherson. I apparently whacked my knee on the plates pretty good.

I've had what I think is a bad habit of just training with the weights that will be used in a contest and not trying to go heavier because I didn't need to. Now, after watching so many freaks out there in Kansas I need to just get as strong as possible so the contest weights are not the most I have ever tried...

[D.J. Satterfield]

Yeah, I always try to train with heavier weights or thicker bars or whatever the case may be. I figure you will be better prepared come game day. Glad to see your are feeling better though, I am sure that was a long weekend.

[ClayEdgin]

Just thinking out loud here...

I think some of my progress lately has been due to the fact that I'm learning to turn off my brain when doing things like farmers walks or yoke. Something in my head has finally duct taped my Conscience to a chair with its mouth shut, so I no longer hear "Drop the weight and do another set" or "That's good enough" Just go, go, go until the body strength is not there anymore and then go a few more steps out of sheer anger for being exhausted. I'm starting to get more aggressive/intense with the weights. 720 on the yoke was easier than the first time I tried 600 a month ago - how much of a confidence booster is that!?!? Getting stronger is exciting. Noticing a weekly improvement in some aspect of training is enough reason to hit it again next week.

[Jay O'Neill]

Good work Clay! I often hear my inner voice tell me, "man this is Heavy". I have been shutting him up as well.... he is my OHP guy!

[ClayEdgin]

Lower Body Massacre III: Revenge of the Ouch

Just Travis and me tonight so the rest breaks were quick. We pretty much finished a set and then loaded the weight for the next person who steps in right away.

Push Press:
Me: 135x8, 185x3, 225x2, 250x1, 295x0
Travis: 135x5, 185x3, 225x1, 250x0

Feels like I need to be pressing twice a week to stay in the groove. Travis missed 250 by just a little bit.

Squat:
Me: 275x3, 315x3, 365x1, 405x1, 455x1, 545x1 (with suit and wraps)
Travis: 135x5, 185x5, 225x5, 275x5, 315x3, 345x3 (PR), 365x1 (PR) (with wraps)

Man, that suit is hard to get used to. I need to do a ton of reps in it to find that groove. In the bottom position with 545, my face felt like it was going to explode. I shot up pretty quick but my hips came up faster than I'd like and I ended up pulling a half good morning with the weight. NO more maxes until I figure out that suit thing. I won't count it as a PR even though I'm tempted to; that wasn't entirely me lifting the weight and it wasn't entirely pretty.

Partial DL (from about 20")
Me: up to 605 conventional and sumo
Travis: up to 515 sumo

Sumo feels WAY easier with the partial pulls, but it also feels easier to get out of position and end up shooting the hips too high. The first time I pulled it, I just pushed my hips through and it was locked out.

12" log cleans:
Me: 220x3, 270x1, 290x1, 340x1, 360x0
Travis: 220xmaybe 8 singles, 270x0

340 wasn't that bad, but 360 felt impossible. Travis had trouble with the 220lb log until he put on a belt and stuck the loop out to cradle the log. Then it popped right up.

Sled backwards:
Both: 100x100ftx2, 150x100ftx2, 200x50ftx6

Woohoo! Travis is the second person to puke during a workout at my house! Shawn heaved between overhead presses one day some time ago and now Travis has speckled my yard with whatever he ate. I didn't care to investigate that further. We were done after four pulls with 200lbs and sat down for a while and BS'ed. Then I was like "You down for another set?" and he was game. I like Travis because he is game for any sickness I can think of without hesitation. He pushes me just by not quitting.

With only two of us, the rest breaks between the sled were murderously short but we both survived so the question has to be asked "How many more trips can we do next time?"

[ClayEdgin]

"Training in Hail"

Travis came over early and we drove to a nearby creek where I had seen a giant tire. It is a 26.5-25, thin and is steel belted, so it's close to 1100lbs I'd say. The tread is worn down pretty well and in between the treads it was painted like it belonged in a school playground. So we get down into this ditch and there is a service road leading up to the street, but the tire is a good 200 yards away from the street. Took probably 25 minutes of tire rolling uphill to get to the street where Travis' pickup was parked and waiting for us was a police officer. So far we're 2 for 2 when it comes to playing with tires and police :) He of course asks what we're doing and isn't quite sure how to approach the situation. We're actually doing a community service because we're fishing this tire out of the ditch and we're not making a mess. Neither of us have warrants or outstanding tickets. So he ends up helping us load the tire into Travis' truck and we get back to my house.

Loading to 53":
Me: 175kegx3, 230 stonex2, 290kegx5, then x5 at 59"
Travis: 175kegx3, 230 stonex2, 290kegx5, then x5 at 59"

With just two of us today, we decided to go higher on the platform. Halfway through our set of 10 keg loads, we threw up a six inch thick beam cutoff I had from a construction job and we loaded the keg onto that. Keg loading kicks ass.

Tire:
Both: 500lb tire x 50ft x 1 trip

It began to rain on us pretty heavy at the middle of the trip and the rain turned to stinging hail within moments so we bailed inside the garage. The hail got heavier for about a half hour so while it caked itself on our vehicles we did some other stuff inside.

Farmers deadlift 2" handles:
Me: 160x2, 250x2, 300x1
Travis: 160x2, 250x2, 300x0

These felt heavy after the loading and tire.

Zercher lifts on 2" bar from knee level in rack:
Me: 160x2, 250x2, 340x2, 430x2, 500x0
Travis: 160x2, 250x2, 290x2, 340x2

Hand and thigh lift:
Well, this one was a bust - literally. First we worked up to 670 and then the carabiner snapped. So I used a Master lock as a carabiner and actually broke that with 760, so we were done for the day after that. I didn't want to go through all my carabiners doing a novelty lift like this.

2.5" axle:
Both of us did tons of cleans, presses, snatches, BTN presses, Zotts presses, overhead squats. Not sure of the axle's weight but I'm guessing 30lbs; otherwise I don't have weights or sets/reps of anything, but I know we worked our asses off. Travis has some OL background and was showing me the lifts a bit.

By this time the rain had stopped and the street was starting to dry off but we were done.

[George Champlin]

great story and workout!

[D.J. Satterfield]

Nice work Clay. Keg loading is pretty cool. You guys are hitting hard out West.

[ClayEdgin]

I wasn't satisfied with the lack of event training on Sunday so Travis and I met up at Defined Fitness where my strongman contest is going to take place. We had a pretty good night. The equipment there is really good and they even had a platform with rubber runners and bumper plates.

Push Press:
Me: 135x7, 185x3, 225x3, 275x1
Travis: 135x5, 185x3, 225x2, x2

I might have quit pushing on the 275 had it not been for the mirror showing me how close I had it to lockout. Mirrors are sometimes bad influences but this time it helped.

Clean & BTN Push Press:
Me: 155x5, 199x3, x3, 221x3, x3, 241x3, 261x1 (PR), 271x0
Travis: 155x5, 199x3, x3, 221x3, x2

Everything above 221 was a PR for me. Travis had not tried BTN PP before other than messing around with it on Sunday so we were both pleased. I was also happy about being able to drop the weights from overhead.

Deadlifts:
Me: 225x3, 275x3 (sumo, weird), 315x2, 365x1, 405x1, 445x1, 495x1, 585x1
Travis: 225x5, 275x5, 315x5, 365x1, 385x1 (PR for conventional), 315x6, x6

Oh man, these felt good. I remembered how to pull, for crying out loud. I should have tried 600 just to pull it with a little hitch (585 was clean) but I am saving that big pull for sometime very soon. I know I could have bested my PR of 605 if we had pulled before the pressing.

Good mornings:
Me: 135x5, 225x5, 275x5, 315x5, 365x5, 405x10 (PR)
Travis: 135x5, 225x5, 275x6, x6, x6 (PR's on 275)

The heaviest Travis had ever done was 245x1. My previous PR was 405x5.

I feel satisfied for a few more days. Right now I'm scarfing some chicken parmigiana (God bless my Italian wife), rice, and veggies. Then it's time for a big protein shake and off to bed. Good stuff.

[Mike Westerling]

Good pull after all that work too!
Keep it up,
Mike

[Dan Harrison]

Time for some heavy negatives for your deads and overhead dude! They will rip your ass right out of a plateau. It works really well, man. I know your OH an dead havent moved a whole lot lately, and there's no excuse, because you are a man-tree. I'm gonna fly over there and throw eggs at you unless you start forcing your body to feel superheavy poundages. You are only as strong as you let yourself be. If you just work within your limits, you will stay within them.

Keep the BLOODSHED AND POWER COMING MAN!!

[Lance Peterson]

Nice workout man, like Dan said keep pounding those heavy weights and you will be killing the weight soon!

[ClayEdgin]

Rained out again. It started raining about 5 minutes before Travis showed up. Robert and Alex are in Phoenix for Robert's bodybuilding show and I hope he's doing well. He's in great shape so I'm sure he'll bring home some hardware.

Stones to 47"
Me: 175kegx4, 230x3, 290x2, 320x1, 375x1 (PR), 375x1 to 53" (PR)
Travis: 175kegx3, 230x2, 290x1 (PR)

Stone PR's in the house! Holy crap I smoked that 375 the first time. It was cold today and the tacky was running slow so it took a while to get it warmed up. Travis couldn't do anything to the 290 until we taught him the over the top grip and he loaded it for a nice PR! I'm tempted to pour another stone around 400-410...

The rest of the workout was somewhat scrambled because of the weather. We did one arm dumbbell snatches up to 120, dumbbell deadlifts up to 250, DO 3 1/2" thick bar deadlift and cleans. Also did some push presses and partials in the rack but nothing special. Everything felt really heavy, probably because of the stone lifting. Both of us were lethargic I think.

I did manage to bolt some 2x4's onto the sidewalls of the 1050 tire before the rain and Travis brought out his 350lb tractor tire for the women to flip. We also got a playground ball and packed some plaster on it to make a lighter stone, around 160 I think. I picked up the 1050 tire a couple times and think I may be able to get 4-5 flips out of it.

[Mike Westerling]

.....to the tire?

[Dan Harrison]

CLAY, I'M NOT LETTING YOU TRAIN YOKE! HAHAHAHAHAHAHA!!!
http://www.ahc-ec.fsnet.co.uk/clipart/seasons/spring/old_man_wind.jpg

Your 375 stone load was RIGHT ON, man. You're gonna be loading 5 in a row pretty soon. If you pour a 450 stone, I'll be knocking on your door within 3 or 4 minutes.

[ClayEdgin]

Mike, there are two reasons: (1) tire tread is so chewed up and (2) it's one of those tires that is round across the tread (instead of flat across the tread) so any hand grips are tucked way under the tire when it is laying flat. It seems like every one of the lugs on that tire are chewed up in some way and the 2x4's prop it up off the ground enough to get your hands onto some good handholds. It's still not an ideal grip. If it wasn't for the boards, the tire would be impossible!

[Mike Westerling]

I would have never thought of that.
Thanks,
-Mike


Mike, there are two reasons: (1) tire tread is so chewed up and (2) it's one of those tires that is round across the tread (instead of flat across the tread) so any hand grips are tucked way under the tire when it is laying flat. It seems like every one of the lugs on that tire are chewed up in some way and the 2x4's prop it up off the ground enough to get your hands onto some good handholds. It's still not an ideal grip. If it wasn't for the boards, the tire would be impossible!

[ClayEdgin]

Decided to subscribe to the "Dan Harrison School of Weeklong Lifting" and hit log presses and BTN push presses. I'd really like to feel better about pressing weight overhead and think it is my biggest weakness. As it stands now, I have to rely on doing really well on the other events since I finish in the lower portion of the pack on overhead events. So I put the 12" log in the rack and did some presses, then worked BTN presses with a bar.

12" log:
225x2x2x2x2, 245x2, 265x1 (PR), 275x1x1 (PR), 280x0, 225x2

So my log pressing is pitiful, but with hard work it has to go up. 275 the first time was shaky and I never controlled it completely, but the second time it went up smoothly.

BTN PP with bar:
225x2x2x2, x3 pushed regular style (not BTN)

Things felt alright. I was pushed for time tonight but I can't complain about the pressing too much. Just need more work.

Tomorrow will likely be yoke and tire and of course sled.

[ClayEdgin]

"Event training redemption"

We got rained out Saturday, as well as the previos workout, so we were really itching to hit some events. Lo and behold, it rained from 2 to 5 this afternoon but cleared up enough for us to get some use of the drying street.

Tire flip:
Me: 800x8, 1050x3 (PR)
Travis: 800x7 (PR), 1050x1 (PR)

The only other time Travis tried a tire (whoa, say that 3 times fast) was in May at the Albuquerque contest. The 1050 flip was MUCH harder uphill and I only got one flip in that way. Travis and I both got flips in downhill. On level ground, it should be doable but a real challenge. The goal for the contest is to use this tire as the dividing line between the best and the rest.

Yoke for 100ft:
Me: 260, 440, then 540xftx2, 620x50ft, 800x15ft (PR)
Travis: 260, 440, then 540xftx2, 620x50ft with one drop (ties PR)

Man, I swore I had 50ft in me for the 800lb yoke tonight. I got going too fast and wasn't able to recover on one step. I know I can nail that thing. I want to hit it for 50ft without drops before going up. It wasn't as bad as I thought it was going to be. A little hard to stand with, but once I locked out my stablizers all kicked in and I felt good. Crap!

500lb tire flip for conditioning
Both: 50ftx4 trips without rest between sets

I'd go 50ft uphill, then Travis would go 50ft uphill. Then we'd do the same downhill. Did two sets of that and it was enough to keep us winded.

Sled backwards:
Both: 100x100ft, 200x100ft, 200x50ftx4

Holy moley, this was tougher than it should have been. Between the yoke and tire flipping, it was hard to stay leaning back and every step hurt. I doubted I would finish the 100ft run at 200lbs but kept going. Both of us were gasping afterwards.

So a good night overall for both of us. Tomorrow is rest, Thursday is plyometrics, then rest until Sunday when we'll hit stones, tire, farmers, sled and maybe yoke again. Protein intake has consistently been between 200-250g per day with quality lean meats (tuna, chicken, etc) and it may be mental but I'm noticing an improvement in muscle definition. Strength gains are coming along too.

[D.J. Satterfield]

Hey Clay, very nice work on the tire, that thing sounds like a load at #1050. Real good run on the yoke, you'll have 50' in no time. Thinking about you doing that yoke just makes my calf hurt. :LOL:

[Dan Harrison]

Yeah, dude.
http://www.thaisriolfi.blogger.com.br/tattoo%20steve-o.jpg
I told you...you just have to get your butt under those big yoke weights and you'll grow like a weed.

[ClayEdgin]

Today we had Alex, Robert, Alex's friend Jesse and Travis out here. It was Jesse's first time on the implements and she did well. Alex and Robert hadn't been out in a few weeks so Alex was a tad rusty at first but quickly got back into the swing of things.

Loading to 47"
Me: up to 375x1
Travis: up to 290x1 (ties PR)
Alex: 115lb keg x 1 (PR)
Jesse: 115lb keg x 2

It's always fun for me to coach someone new on this stuff. There's a fine line between teaching them the technique and hitting information overload and you can usually see it in a person's face when they're lost. Jesse handled directions well and was able to load the keg twice. She's about 5'5" so a load to that high is good I think.

Yoke for 50ft:
Me: 260, 440, 620, 800x4 ft (CRAP)
Travis: 260, 440, 620x3 trips
Alex: 200x4 trips, including one where she turned around while holding the yoke and came back down right away.
Jesse: 80, 180x2, 200x2

800 crushed me today. No excuses.

Tire:
Me: 500x6, 800x6
Travis: 500x6, 800x6
Alex: 350x0
Jesse: 350x6, 500x2 with board underneath and a spot

Every flip was just sucking the wind out of us. I don't know if it's harder to breathe colder air or what, but we were dying today. The 350lb tire is a tractor tire so it was all about sumo'ing the tire up and then kicking it over for the ladies.

2" thick farmers for 100ft:
Me: 160x1, 210x1, 300x1, 300x1 on 1" handles for about 80ft
Travis: 160x1, 210x1, 300x1 on 1" handles for about 20ft (PR)
Alex: 100x2
Jesse: 100x2

Good work all around here, although my hands felt like they were losing grip. I don't like to set the weights down and so far I haven't dropped a weight in a long time.

Sled backwards:
Me: 100x100ftx2, 150x100ftx2, 200x50ftx2, 250x50ftx2
Travis: 100x100ftx2, 150x100ftx2, 200x50ftx2, 250x50ftx2
Alex: 100x50ftx2, 150x50ftx1
Jesse: 100x50ftx2, 150x50ftx1

12" log:
Me: 225x1, 245x1, 225x4
Travis: 225xalmost

Travis came closer than ever to locking that log out. The girls did some overhead stuff on a bar. Alex worked up to 65x3 and Jesse did 75x3. I think I'm getting my dip technique on the jerk portion of the lift down pretty well with the log although it is still a little sketchy.

[Dan Harrison]

Dude, you can't to a max yoke every week. It is suicide. That's why you had problems this time. Space them apart at LEAST 2 weeks. 3 is better, but I know you love it so you can do it every 2 weeks.

I encourage you to keep working on the second dip for log pressing. Power jerking a log is the easiest way to get BIG numbers overhead.

[ClayEdgin]

You dirty hairpie, why didn't you tell me before?? haha That's good to know, though.

[ClayEdgin]

Down with the Sickness
Errrr-ah-ah-ah-ah!!!

12" Log:
Me: 225x2, 245x2, 275x1, 280x1 (PR), 225x6 (PR)
Travis: 225x1, x1, x2 (all PRs)

Good stuff. The reps at the end were easy as pie. Mmm...pie.... Travis mastered his technique on the log tonight and got it for two singles and then two reps. My leg drive on the log is coming a long way in a short period of time. It still disgusts me that I missed 250 a month ago at McPherson. I'll try for 8 reps next Tuesday on the log after a max attempt.

Log lockouts on top of rack (6" ROM):
Me: 225x5, 245x5, 275x5
Travis: 225x5, 245x5, 275x2

I tried to stay upright while pressing these out so they were as strict as I could manage. I think this is a good exercise because I keep missing log presses in the last 6" of press

BTN barbell push presses:
Me: 135x2, 185x2, 225x2, 245x1, 275x1 (PR)
Travis: 135x2, 185x2, 225x1 (PR), 245x1 (PR)

Up through the 245, I was getting enough pop with my legs to come off the ground completely and "jump" up to lockout. I'm thinking 315 should come soon if I learn to dip under the weight. More practice, 5-10lbs more each week, and it will come soon enough. Seeing Jesse's pic of 495 overhead in this fashion makes me realize that 315 ain't shit and I need to get crackin on some serious weights!

Deadlifts:
Me: 225x4, 315x3, 405x1, 495x1, 545x3, 600x1
Travis: 225x5, 315x5, 405x1 (PR), 425x1 (PR), 455x0

I fought like a mofo to get that 600. Travis was unsure if he could get 405 conventional since he normally pulls sumo but he pulled 405 so fast I started laughing and grabbing more plates before it even passed his knees. 425 was a good solid pull. 455 came to the bottom of his knee cap but it stalled out there. That should come up soon.

Truck push uphill for 100ft
Both: 6 trips. Mine were between 29-35 seconds and Travis' were between 34-44 seconds.

This is tougher than I thought it would be. I tried to keep my head at or below the level of the tailgate and lean forward a lot. It was difficult to stay on my toes the entire time but I was afraid that if I let my heels drop that I would pull an achilles tendon or calf muscle.

We've got a whiteboard on the wall with everyone's names and PR's in certain lifts and tonight there was a lot of erasing and writing going on. Can't argue with that.

[ClayEdgin]

Warren came over tonight and we hit a few events.

800lb Tire:
Me: 2 flips
Warren: 3 flips

Warren did well on these, even being outweighed by the tire by 615lbs

Yoke:
Me: 260x100ft, 440x100ft, 440x50ft, 620x100ft (PR), 440x150ft (PR)
Warren: 260x100ft, 440x50ftx4

My core was pretty toasted from the deadlifts and log presses and I didn't want to go too heavy. The trips over 50ft were where we walked to the 50ft mark and turned around without dropping the yoke. Not that hard really.

2" farmers:
Me: 160x100ftx2, 210x50ftx2
Warren: 160x100ftx2, 210x50ftx2

Loading:
Me: 230x3 squats, 290 keg x 3 squats x 2 sets
Warren: 230xalmost, 175 keg x 3 squats

Nothing noteworthy, but that will change on Sunday.

[D.J. Satterfield]

Clay, you pulling that 600# dead off the floor with a regular bar? If so, man that is a hell of a pull for someone as tall as you.

[ClayEdgin]

Thanks DJ. That bar is a Walmart special that I bought for $35 on sale. This is the second bar I've had from Walmart - the first one had a loading end break when I dropped it six inches with a 45 on each side. This one seems a little stronger, but the ends are still made of pot metal which is pretty weak. I like pulling with it compared to my Jesup power bar because the knurling isn't as sharp and the Jesup bar is a little thicker.

My best pull is 605, but I was weighing around 360 when I did that so I think this was a better pull.

[ClayEdgin]

Event Sunday.

180lb wooden log:
Me: few sets of triples
Travis: few sets of triples
Warren: not quite one (about to the top of his head)

It feels like one side of this log is heavier than the other by 5-10lbs. This thing looks pretty cool - it's 12" around and 8' long.

Stones to 47":
Me: up to 375x1
Travis: up to 290x1, 320 nearly lapped
Warren: up to 230x1

Warren brought over some smaller stones for the women - 105 and 160. I nearly sharted on the 375 today but sometimes I think you gotta be willing to commit to a lift. I say that now, but there will be days when I don't feel like shitting myself. Travis got that 290 up there easier than ever and is now setting his sights on the 320. I'm going to order some tacky tonight, probably some of Ostlund's stuff

Tire medley - 500x3, 800x3, 1050x3
Me: all 9 flips in 50.88 secs, 7 flips in 40-something
Travis: 7 flips, 6 flips
Warren: 6 flips, 4 flips

This is a cool event. Fly through the 500lb tire 3 times, muscle over the 800 3 times, and then fight the 1050. I'd like to be somewhere around 40 seconds come December 10th at my contest.

2" thick farmers for 100ft:
Me: 160x1 (turn at 50), 300x1 (no turn)
Travis: 160x1 (turn at 50), 210x120ft (turn at 100)
Warren: 160x1 (turn at 50), 210x1

These felt super heavy today, probably because of all the other events we did. Seems like heavy stones or log really kill my stability and make stuff feel heavy. The temperature was warmer today so the air was easier to breathe.

Sled backwards:
Me: 150x100ftx2, 200x50ftx10, 150x50ftx1, 200x50ftx2
Travis: 100x100ftx1, 150x100ftx1, 200x50ftx10, 150x50ftx1, 200x50ftx1
Warren: 100x100ftx1, 150x50ft, 200x50ftx3 or 4

Man, that was a lot of pulling today. After a few sets, nobody was talking anymore and we'd just look at each other to see who wanted to pull next. I somehow managed to pull uphill most of those times but I ain't complaining. I think the sled is the best $20 I ever spent.

Travis and I busted ass yesterday on upgrading the implements. I finished the 180lb wooden log while he ground off the welds on the yoke, then I rewelded the yoke with larger uprights so the yoke can be made adjustable for different heights. This morning I ground and welded for another couple hours before I ran out of wire in the MIG.

[ClayEdgin]

PR's are cool.

12" Log
Me: 225x2x2, 245x2, 275x1, 290x1 (PR), 300x0
Travis: 225xalmost like 10 times

Don't know what was up with Travis, but he said he has worked out Sunday, Monday, Tuesday, and today, so I guess it was just overtraining. My log press now equals my best push press on a bar since moving to NM and I was a butt hair from finishing off 300.

Squats:
Me: 225x3, 275x2, 315x2, 405x2, 455x2, 495x2, 545x2 (PR)
Travis: 185x5, 225x5, 275x5, 315x3x3, 275x5 (deep), 275x7 (deep)

I decided to give my Centurion suit another chance. This time I took a friend's advice and left the knee wraps off and the suit straps down so I just used the suit bottoms and a belt. It wasn't until I hit 495 that I started getting close to parallel. 545 was still an inch or two high but that was honestly as low as I could go. It would probably take 585-600 to get me to convincingly parallel and based on how I squatted tonight I don't doubt that I could stand with that much. The video I took tonight shows me that I lean way too forward in the squat but that my thighs looks sexy.

BTN push press:
Me: 135x5, 185x3, 225x2
Travis: 135x5, 185x3, x3

Unracking the weight felt like an empty bar, but getting some push with my legs proved to be difficult. Travis found the bliss that is narrow-grip pressing. He has been using a pinkies-on-rings grip with his push press in front of the neck and I got him to try the close grip tonight and the bar just shot up.

18" deadlift:
Me: 245x2, 335x1, 425x1, 515x1, 655x1 (PR)
Travis: 245x2, 335x1, 425x1 (sumo)

Besides overhead work, I think I need more work on this lift. I had only ever pulled 605 before. If Scott Porter puts on his contest and the 18" DL is one of the events, I want to be close to 800 by that time.

Then some light grip work and we called it a night. Travis closed the HG250 for the first time tonight and got the HG300 within 1/4".

After my contest on 12/10 and Scott's contest in mid-late Jan, I'd like to do the NASA powerlifting meet and hit a 450 bench, 650 squat, and 650 deadlift with single ply. I think I'm well on my way with the squat and deadlift but the bench will need lots of work with the shirt.

[Mike Westerling]

...sounds like a 300 log is right around the corner!

[Dan Harrison]

Get rid of that butt-hair and you'll be locking out 300 very soon. 655 on an 18" deadlift is VERY promising! Finally, you got the sand out and you're starting to hit some very sexy PRs! Very good, man.

[ClayEdgin]

About a year ago, a friend of mine named Eric Townsend died unexpectedly. Eric was a mixed martial arts fighter, powerlifter, strongman, grip fanatic and good friend. One of the few people who would do what he said and stand behind his words. Yesterday, a contest in Mesa, Arizona was held in his honor. The organizer asked that anyone who couldn't make it hit a PR for him this weekend, so I am dedicating my yoke PR to my fallen brother Eric Townsend. With the way today's workout went I'm surprised to have hit a PR but I think the memory of Eric helped.

Stones to 47"
Me: up to 320 (skipped 350 and missed 375)
Travis: 290x2 (PR)
Alex: 105x3, 115kegx1

This was the first time I've ever missed loading the 375 since it was taken out of its mold. I just didn't feel it today.

Yoke for 50ft:
Me: 305, 485, 585, 665, 705 (PR), 765 (PR), 485x100ft
Travis: 305, 485, 585, 665 (PR), 705 (PR)
Alex: 205x3 runs

I made the 705 with one drop in the beginning of the run and I think I had 5 drops on the 765. I was huffing and puffing when I dropped 15ft from the 50ft mark. I took a minute and thought that I would be really upset at myself if I didn't finish out the course so I picked it up and went the rest of the way. That's for you, Eric.

Farmers walk with 100lbs per hand:
Me: 200ft, 300ft, 400ft, 250ft
Travis: 200ft, 300ft, 400ft, 250ft
Alex: 100ftx3

My back was really hurting from the yoke so Travis and I decided to see if we could do something stupid with the farmers walk bars. On the 400ft trip, I walked to the end of my street and Travis walked back. I was going for 500ft on the last run and after making a turn I started to feel something weird going on with my left wrist like a tendon was pulling and rather than man it out I set it down.

I'm glad I finally got the yoke to the point where it is adjustable for different heights, and the extra steel I added made it 45lbs heavier. The downside is that there is a little play in the yoke and it makes walking harder because the weights swing a little. They wobble about an inch in each direction. I'll have to think about ways to tighten it up without making it too difficult to adjust the heights or become cumbersome.

[D.J. Satterfield]

Damn Clay, you are tearing it up on that yoke. Very nice work on that. Looks like Travis is getting stronger too.
By the way, you are killing my calf every time I read your yoke workouts. :LOL:

Sorry to hear about your friend, that kind of stuff always sucks.

[ClayEdgin]

Thanks a lot, DJ. My training leading up to the McPherson contest led me to believe that I was doing alright with my yoke training but when I got there and was the slowest of the heavyweights, I decided to start increasing the weight in training so my contest runs would be faster. Right now, the middle of my back and upper back are really hurting so a few days off will help.

[Mike Westerling]

Sorry to hear about your friend.
-Mike

[ClayEdgin]

Log press:
Me: 225x2, 245x2, 225x4, 225x4
Travis: 185x4, x5, x3??

I don't remember his last set. Travis, what did you do? I know you lurk here!

Deadlifts:
Me: 245, 335, 385, 425, 475, 525, 605x0
Travis: 245, 335, 385x1x1x1

I bet him he couldn't get a triple with 385, and he got 3 singles so I guess we tied

Deloaded deadlifts:
Me: 225, 315, 405, 495, 635x0
Travis: 225, 315, 405, 495x1

We set up some bicycle innertubes in the rack and hung a barbell. Then we added weight until the bands stretched and the weights touched the ground. It BARELY touched with 225. I think we stretched them out somewhat because if it really deloaded 225lbs when I tried 605, I should have smoked it!

Travis got tore up tonight on everything we did. First, the wooden log cut up his thumb knuckles during the clean and press, then his shins got tore up real good on the deadlifts, then while putting the weights back on the tree, he nudged the wooden log by accident and it clipped his bare heel before crashing into my wall, drawing blood too. Poor guy! haha But I wrote "Travis' Crevice" on the hole in my wall that the log called...you know, in his honor.

[ClayEdgin]

Holy shit it is getting cold. By the time we had finished tonight, it was 39 degrees and dropping rapidly. I was wearing three layers of clothing during the farmers walk and it helped a ton. I'm not used to this kind of weather but I suspect I will be.

Stones to 53"
Me: up to 320x1 (didn't try anything harder)
Travis: up to 320x1 HUGE PR

We tried out Ostlund's Elite Tacky today and, sweet mother of all things sticky, it is way better than I expected. Normally I lather my lower arms up in the regular stuff and that's fine, but with this stuff I just covered my hands and a little bit on my wrists. The stones just jumped into my lap. Travis had never loaded even the 290 to 53" before, so not only did he load a heavier stone for the first time, he did to a platform that he has never done before so it was like a double PR. He DID lap the stone from a 12" tall box that the stone was sitting on but I still think he kicked ass.

2" thick farmers for 100ft:
Me: 160, 210, 250 in 16 seconds, 300 in 18 seconds (PR!)
Travis: 160, 210, 250 (2 drops, but a big PR as well)

My goal for the contest in a month was to hit 100ft in under 20 seconds so it looks like I'll need to revise that goal. Although I thought I kept a good pace I bet I could get 15 if I hustled. I guess there's only one way to find out. Travis had never taken 250 for more than 80ft and that was with 5 or 6 drops, so this was cool.

Strict press:
Me: 135x10, 155x8, 165x4 (dropped down to 155 for last rep), 155x3
Travis: 115x10, 135x8, 145x5, 155x3

Push Press:
Me: 175x5
Travis: 165x10, 175x8, 185x5

My memory on the presses is hazy. I am getting sick and I've been up since 3:30 so there wasn't enough gas in the tank to finish out my sets like I should have.

Not bad work on the farmers, and the revelation we experienced with the Elite Tacky is awesome.

[Dan Harrison]

Clay,

Seems that the Farmers Walk is becoming YOUR event. Not only can you use giant poundages without drops, but you have learned how to move those feet very fast. This is definately your event. 300x100ft in 18 seconds with 2" handles is incredible. Keep up the ass kicking. Word to the wise: WORK YOUR WEAKNESSES. I would continue building on your farmers walk strength, but I would take an evaluation of your deadlift and strict press...both are important tools to have in strongman. Deadlift is more important though...your log press seems to be getting stronger, which is awesome. Try some hardcore plyometrics weekly and a heavy deadlift negative once a month. I want to see some PR deadlifts, my friend!

Hail and Kill

[SBaier]

Excellent post Dan! So many people would benefit from training their weaknesses. I think the hardest part is not kidding yourself - if you hate a lift or event... do it twice as much!

[ClayEdgin]

Good words to live by Dan. Until I pussed out from feeling sick the other day, I was going to start an overhead program that John Beatty sent me which he said he had some good gains with. Tomorrow is plyometrics and overhead specialization day for sure. I've been saying I'll do plyos for a while but I haven't done them at all since moving here.

I have GOT to buy a space heater tomorrow too. Having farmers bars wanting to rip from your frozen mitts is not a good feeling.

It would be nice to have one or two events where I know I will place 1st or 2nd in just so it would help my overall placing. Right now, farmers and stones are my favorites because I'm the strongest in them, or vice versa depending on how you want to look at it. My weakness is obviously the overhead press. Now that we're going into winter and I won't want to train outside as often, I'm going to start doing two days of inside training and one day of events...

And to add onto what Shawn said, pro HG thrower Ryan Vierra said you can't just enjoy one or two events and be good at them; you have to LOVE every event and train like you love them.

[D.J. Satterfield]

Very nice workouts Clay, looks like you and Travis are making some good gains. You are defintely tearing it up on those farmers. That tacky sounds pretty good, I just ordered some yesterday.

p.s. I had to throw in though that you are killing me with your "cold" temperatures out there, we had a steaming high of 26 yesterday. :M:

[ClayEdgin]

Yeah, but you gotta understand that this is my first winter outside of California! In California, I would be complaining because it dipped below 60 degrees overnight for the first time during this time of year! haha In fact, I didn't even own a sweater until I moved here.

I'm sure after a few months of training on the frozen tundra that Spring will be a welcome break and then I'll be bitching about having to train in 110 degree weather again.

[ClayEdgin]

Tonight's escapades are entitled "Apparently, I have triceps."

John Beatty sent me a program for my overhead press that I'm going to dedicate one night a week to following.

Strict barbell press:
135x10, 155x8, 165x5, 165x2, x2, x2

I am embarrassed to post this part of the workout. I have done 225 strict for one rep before. What the hell is going on?

Push press:
185x8, 205x5

Again, I am ashamed.

Seated press from different heights in rack:
95x5 (24" ROM), 115x5 (18" ROM), 135x5 (18" ROM), 185x5 (12" ROM), 205x5 (12" ROM)

I sat on a couple 12" wooden blocks I had laying around and I liked how I had to tighten my core to get anything to move off the pins. I've never done this before and was trying to get a feel for it. All things considered, I think this was my favorite part of the workout.

My shoulders and triceps are feeling good now. Saturday, a local reporter is coming out to the house to do a story on the Iron Will Challenge so I'll probably run through each event with relatively light weights for the pics and then train on Sunday. Travis is picking up a very heavy tire tomorrow from the Tire Welder if all goes well, and I will spend the first part of Saturday further modifying the yoke for shorter people and cleaning up the wooden log a bit.

[ClayEdgin]

You can't imagine the wood I sported when Travis' parents rolled up with 3 tires on a trailer today. One was about 500, another was 800 and they are both going up with Travis to Farmington so he can train during his winter break from school. The big'un was for me. It comes in at about 1126 according to a site I saw and it felt about right. It also makes be believe that 1050 I have is closer to 950 which kinda sucks. A reporter from the local paper came by this afternoon to take some pictures and do a story on the upcoming contest.

Yoke:
Me: 405x200ft, 485x50, 585x50
Travis: 405x100ft, 485x50, 585x50
Alex: 225x50ftx2 (PR), 305x50ft (PR), 305x30ft
Robert: 305x50ft, 405x50ft

I think Alex was surprised how easily 225 felt on her first set and with the reporter there I think she was inspired to go for 305. She muscled through it without much difficulty until she made her second trip. Robert was game to yoke it up today and took 405 for a nice stroll.

Tire:
Me: 1130x1, x1, x2, x2
Travis: 1130x1, x1, x1, x2
Alex: 430x1 assisted
Robert: took a few cracks at the big'un

I can't tell you how satisfied I was with this. I'm considering having this tire in the contest instead of the 1050 (now probably a 950 based on comparisons to the new one) for two reasons: (1) it's closer to 1050 than the 950 and (2) it's a lot safer. The tread on the 950 is very jagged and I always get roughed up by it. I'd hate to have someone tear their hands up on the first event and drop out.

180 log:
Me: x5 (strict), x4 (push press on last one)
Travis: x3, x5, x8 (PR)
Alex did farmers on 2" handles: 120x50ftx2 (I think a PR)

I experimented with just lapping the log and then popping up and pressing out, rather than cleaning it first and then dipping and pressing. The 180 felt very, very light and I think I can get some more weight on a log this way. On a side note, it is downright silly that my strict log press is better than my strict barbell press.

[ClayEdgin]

Today some locals who do powerlifting came out - Mike, Teale, and Chris - and I have to say that Chris' entry into the MW's will shake up the contest order quite a bit. Teale is also very strong. I am still beat up from yesterday but couldn't resist playing.

Stones to 47":
Me: up to 320
Chris: 230x2, 290x2, 320x1
Teale: 105x4

Teale certainly has the strength to lift heavier stones, but because of her height she has to practically shoulder every stone. Chris caught on to the technique pretty quickly and put that 320 up with some height to spare.

Tire:
Me: a couple with 800
Chris: maybe 6 singles with 800
Teale: 8-9 flips with 350, one assisted with 430

Mike also toyed with the 800 a few times.

Yoke/sled:
Me: 485/200x50ft, 585x25ft
Chris: 485/200x50ft, 585x25
Teale: 125/100x50ftx2 trips

My yoke was built for me, a guy who is 6'5", so anyone shorter than 5'10 has some difficulty with it at times. I will chop it down so far so that children can use it!

2" Farmers for 100ft
Me: 250, 300x40ftx2
Chris: 160x2 trips
Teale: 100x2 trips
Mike: 250

Overhead:
Chris: 180lb log x 3 (nearly strict)
Teale: 70lb axle x many, 90lb axle x 3

These folks will have no problem with the overhead event. Must be because each can bench over double bodyweight? :)

[ClayEdgin]

Warren came over tonight and I didn't plan on doing much because my lower back was still kinda cooked from two event days this weekend. Turns out I was wrong.

Strict press:
Me: 135x10, 155x8, 185x5, 205x4 (PR)

Push Press:
Me: 225x8, 245x5, 295x1 (PR)

I've done 300 before, but not since moving to NM. When I moved here, my 300 went down to 245 because of the weather/thinner air/my pussiness.

Axle clean and press:
Warren: 140x3, 160x2 singles, 170x2 singles

Not a bad effort for a guy who weighs 10lbs more than his heaviest press.

Seated presses in rack:
Me: 135x5 (3rd pin from top), 185x3 (2nd pin), 185x3 (2nd pin), 185x5 (1st pin), 225x3 (1st pin) (PR)
Warren: 95x5 (3rd pin), 135x5 (2nd pin), 135x5 (2nd pin), 155x5 (1st pin), 185x5 (1st pin)

I like this exercise. I sit on a couple blocks and put the bar 3 pin holes from the top which puts the bar right at chin level. Then do 5 dead stop singles, bump up the weight and put the bar at the next higher pin and repeat. 225 last week would have been out of the question since 205 was so difficult. Stronger shoulders maybe? Better technique on this type of press? Either way, 275 should be possible soon but not til I hit 5 with 225.

Stones to 47":
Me: 230x2, 290x1, 350x1, 375x2
Warren: 160x3, 230x2, 290xalmost lapped

Thass'right, the 375 is my prison beyatch once again. Loaded it faster than ever too!

Thanksgiving is Thursday so there goes that workout. I don't know what kind of idiot scheduled a holiday on my workout, but there it is.

[Dan Harrison]

I'm working out on Thanksgiving, you lazy swine. You gonna let a damn turkey stop your workout? Shame on you. Seriously dude...
http://scd.mm-b1.yimg.com/image/604961036

Finally you get some near 300lb weights overhead. It's time for 315.

As always, great progress on the stones.

[ClayEdgin]

Jen's workout:

Push press:
50x5, 60x5, 70x4 (PR), 80x2 (PR)

Her old PR was 70x2 but I didn't tell her how much the weight was on the bar between sets until she was finished.

Loading to 47":
105 stone x2, 115keg x lapped x 4 times

Jen's 5'2" so loading stuff to even 47" means having to nearly shoulder it. She had more than enough strength to stand with the 105 and the 160 should be doable by contest time.

[ClayEdgin]

Too Cold!!!

I woke up this morning to a layer of snow on the ground and 25 degree temps. It warmed up to 35 by training time, but the wind was horrible and made it much colder. We started to do the yoke/sled medley but it got brutally cold and windy so we bagged it and went inside to play with overhead stuff and stones. There were 8 of us lifting today, the biggest crew so far. I can't even pretend to know what everone did today so I'll put what I remember:

Axle overhead:
Teale: 70x3, 90x3
Alex: 70x4, 90x3 assisted
Warren: 160x3, 170x1, 170x3 (PR)
Chris: 140x5, 160x5, 210x5, x5
Robert: 140x5, x5
Travis: 160x5, 210x5, 250x1 (PR)
Me: 160x5, 210x5, 250x3 (PR)

12" wooden log 180lbs:
Chris: x5, x5
Travis: x10, x10 (both PRs)
Me: x10 (7 strict)

12" steel log 225lbs:
Me: x5, x5 (volume PR)

Geez, all this pressing I've been doing lately is paying off. The log presses had almost zero leg drive.

Stones to 47"
Teale: 105x4, 115keg x lapped
Alex: 105x3, 115kegx1
Warren: 230x3 (fast!)
Robert: 160, 230, 280 (PR)
Chris: 160, 230, 280, 320, 350x1 (PR)
Travis: 230, 280, 320
Me: 230, 280, 320, 350, 375

Robert doesn't use tacky. Teale has to practically shoulder the stone and get on her toes to load it to 47". Chris doesn't have a lot of experience with the stones. Travis has never done this 320 from the ground before, and that 375 is feeling easier and easier every week now. Puttin in work!

After that, we moved the platform to 57 and were going to do a series of stones. Warren got the 160 but not the 230. Travis got the 230 but when he went to load the 280, it slipped off the ledge and we both grabbed for it. The stone caught my pinky finger on the rack in and tore a layer of skin off, but it's fine. It also cut his finger too. That was the end of the day!

[Patrick McGuffin]

Wow you guys are getting better and better every week! Those are some impressive numbers on the stones from every one.

[ClayEdgin]

Pressing day

I didn't really think about it until I was halfway through tonight but I just pressed two days ago with a fair amount of volume. Still, I liked tonight's results. I called and woke Travis up at about 6pm tonight - that guy has been pulling some SICK hours in the architect studio, going to school and getting little sleep plus he's got a cold now so the guy could use some rest. Just Jen and I tonight.

Strict Press:
Me: 135x10, 155x8, 185x5, 215x3 (PR)

I'm coming close to that sexy 225 strict press

Push Press:
Me: 225x3, 275x1, 300x0
Jen: 50x5, 65x5, 75x5, 80x5 (PR), 90x0x0x0x0

I was more interested in test driving 300 again. Jen is getting stronger every workout.

Seated presses from pins, dead stop each rep:
Me: 95x5 (24" ROM), 135x5 (18" ROM), 185x5 (12" ROM), 225x5 (12" ROM) (PR)
Jen: 65x5 (10" ROM), 95x5x5x5 (4" ROM)

Jen is a lot shorter than I am so not only did she have to sit on a shorter block so her feet could touch the ground but her range of motion was a lot less. After the second set she commented how hard this exercise hit her shoulders and back. I wanted that fifth rep with every fiber of my being and the last rep took 15-20 seconds of agony. It was hard the entire way. Once I got it to a certain point, and it was already moving very slowly, the bar touched a bolt head in the power rack and I couldn't muscle it up over the bolt so I had to let the bar drift backwards a bit and then finish it out. Upon lockout, I let out the girliest screech ever, thus embarrassing myself in front of my wife's best friend, but it was so worth it.

Got 3 workouts left before the contest. I am not as pumped up about competing in my own contest because I've got so much work ahead of me. In fact, I had to sit down and look at a calendar to plan out my workouts for the rest of the time before the comp. I'm actually looking forward to competing in Scott Porter's contest quite a bit because all I have to do is show up and lift.

[Dan Harrison]

good work on the strict presses! Let's see 225 soon!!! Push presses, you're RIGHT there on 300. Just try to work on getting a big breath and getting the strongest possible leg drive. When I dip down with a bar or an axle, it helps to almost pause for a half second at the bottom of the dip. Sounds weird, but it really works for me.

In the Name of Zeus,

Your Friend,

Dan

[ClayEdgin]

I wasn't visualizing any kind of world class workout tonight and really I had no game plan going into the workout. I spent most of the day thinking about contest prep so my head wasn't in the game. Still, I had fun.

Axle clean and press BTN:
Me: 120x5, 140x5, 160x5, 170x3, 220x3
Warren: 120x5, 140x5, 160x2, 170x2 (push press, not BTN)

I can definitely tell I am overtrained on my shoulders and triceps right now. 220 felt tougher than it should have been. 3 pressing workouts in 5 days does that.

Deadlifts:
Me: 135x5, 225x5, 315x1 (sumo on all, not near a max)
Warren: 135x5, 225x5, 315x1, x1, x1

Sumo feels funny. It hit my lower body in a different way and that was good. I'm not convinced that I like it though. Long legs are a definite disadvantage in sumo pulls.

Keg lifts:
Me: 290kegx10 squats, 175x2 to shoulder, 290x2 to shoulder
Warren: 175x5 squats, 175x3 to shoulder

This was the fun part of the night for me. The keg lifts were done like this - with the keg standing up, squat way down and wrap your arms around the keg. Then stand up and pop it up onto the shoulder. Simple, right? Right. I'm thinking a set of 10 shoudlers with the 290lb keg would be enough for a workout by itself.

[Mike McConnell]

Anybody interested in getting used tires (big ones!) for $1.00? Hey, Clay, or anybody living in New Mexico, read my latest post of mine to understand how this came about. Freakin unbelievalbe.

http://www.marunde-muscle.com/forum/showpost.php?p=18480&postcount=7

I'll know more this Saturday.

Hey, Clay, at least you're doing your stuff and not skipping out.

[ClayEdgin]

Sweet deal on the tires! There's a place here in Albuqrazy that gladly gives them away for free as long as we agree not to ever bring them back! haha Still a buck is a good deal.

Jen's workout

Push press:
50x5, 65x5, 70*x5, 70*x4, 70*x3 (* = 2" axle)

She found the axle press to be a lot harder than a regular bar. I'm not sure she'll be able to press a rep out on the weight come contest time.

Continentals with 2" axle:
70x2, 90x0x0

She'll have to be able to get this weight racked in order to press it. She used my belt and flipped the 70 over really easily compared to last time. 90 should come by contest time.

Loading to 47":
105 stone twice, 115 keg almost loaded twice and lapped 4 more times.

With forearm sleeves and gloves, she loaded that 105 pretty quickly. Being 5'2" is a definite disadvantage though. After the keg attempts, she laid on the garage floor gasping. I thought that was particularly funny, but I am sick.

[Paul Neuhaus]

Being 5'2" is a definite disadvantage though. After the keg attempts, she laid on the garage floor gasping. I thought that was particularly funny, but I am sick.
Has she ever tried stones with boots that have a thick heel?

[ClayEdgin]

My head has NOT been on training recently but today I woke up and the first thing out of my mouth was "I have 3 hours until I lift." I swept the garage, turned on the space heater, warmed up the tacky, and lugged weights and tires outside. Chris showed up at noon and the return of Chan happened today! He wasn't lifting much, just hanging out and BS-ing which was cool. The wind chill brought it down to 22 degrees at one point which is DAMN chilly.

Yoke/Sled medley for 50ft:
Me: 465/200, 565/200
Chris: 465/200, 565/200

This was WAY easy today. I will smoke 650 next week and pull that sled like my name is Rudolph. I sure had the red nose.

Tire medley:
me: 500x3, 800x3, 1130x1
Chris: 500x3, 800x3, 1130xto knee

I should be able to finish this medley next week. If I don't, I'm afraid of what Dan Harrison will do to me.

Log:
Me: 180x5, 225x4x4x4x4
Chris: 180x5, 225x1 (PR)

Chan also got in on this action and pressed it a bit over the top of his head. He might come with us to AZ next month which would be cool. I was able to strict press the 225 for the first time today which rocked ass.

Loading to 47"
Me: 230, 280, 320, 375
Chris: 230, 280, 320, 350
Chan: 230

Loading to 53"
Me: 350, 375
Chris: 230

Then we got even stupider and put a 6" beam on top of the platform, bringing it to 59"

Loading to 59"
Me: 290 keg x 2, 175 keg x 2 (one motion)
Chris: 175 keg x 2
Chan: 175 keg x 1

Then I cleaned the 175 and pressed it over the top of the pullup bar in my rack, which I measured at 7'8". Then I cleaned and pressed it strict.

Jen is coming over tonight to train and then we'll do something light Tuesday. I didn't train farmers today because my hands were freezing and I thought I could spend my energy working on other things.

[Scott Porter]

Chris is looking strong, especially for a new guy. Hopefully he'll make it out to the AZ contest too. Is he under 231?

[Mike McConnell]

Thank goodness I live farther south in Alamogordo, NM. At least today was a balmy 60 degrees with sunshine and light wind when I did my tire flipping today. Clay, is this your first winter here in NM? Numbers looking good on yur part.

[ClayEdgin]

Chris' entry form says he weighs about 230. I'm not sure if he'll do the AZ comp cause I think he's primarily a powerlifter. Strong kid.

Thanks Mike, yes it is my first winter here. I moved to the area from California in April and the winter has been tougher than the summer. In CA it was 60 and overcast all year round

[ClayEdgin]

Random thoughts:

At Dan's command, I'm training stones higher now. He has some good points about training to higher platforms being better for you as a stone lifter than just hitting 48" and, really, I shouldn't be hitting 48" platforms in training. Today when I loaded the 375 to 53" I squatted much further down and tried to keep myself upright when standing. It was difficult but I think I was able to hold form pretty well. This meant the stone was higher when I finally stood all the way up and loading was easier. There was no "ledge wrestling" like last time I hit 53". Definitely time to pour a 410-420 and start lifting like I've got a pair. Loading the 290 keg to 59" was cake. After the contest next week I'm going to dump the 115lb keg out and fill it with cement and lead weights to make it something like 350-400.

I'm still smiling over being able to press the 225lb 12" log strict today. Might be cake to a lot of you guys but it means that my press is coming along more. All five of my cleans were done in one motion without resting the log on my belt or lap.

When someone who has promoted a show finds out that I'm competing in it too, they say "Oh really?" and kinda roll their eyes. I can see why now. There is no time to mentally focus on training and I'm not as excited about competing next week as I would be normally. Still, I think I may do well. I'm sure I'll be tired after unloading everything and setting up. I'm hoping my volunteers will be able to step in and reset the weights quickly.

[Dan Harrison]

Clay,

That's a really cool video you put up for the contest. Yeah, with the higher stone loads, you're going to go from a stone lifting wrecking machine into a FREAKING STONE LIFTING WRECKING MACHINE. You're on the right path.

Dan

[Scott Porter]

When someone who has promoted a show finds out that I'm competing in it too, they say "Oh really?" and kinda roll their eyes. I can see why now. There is no time to mentally focus on training and I'm not as excited about competing next week as I would be normally. Still, I think I may do well. I'm sure I'll be tired after unloading everything and setting up. I'm hoping my volunteers will be able to step in and reset the weights quickly.

I was told the same thing by a few experienced people. I may have to sit out of my own contest in AZ, but I'm trying very hard not to by having 3 other people run & judge the event. I'm still looking for people to spot/load and offering beer/food in return. I also have a little help out here from my training parters.

Most likely, even if I compete, I'll still help load all the equipment up in the trucks and unload it before the contest.

Hopefully you get some help so you can focus on your own performance.

[ClayEdgin]

Jen's workout

Push press:
50x5, 65x5, 70*x5 (PR), 80*x5 singles (PR)

* = 2" axle. She wasn't able to do the axle for more than a few reps last week and 80 was out of the question. She's very sore from Friday's workout. I think that if she rests until Saturday that she will be able to get 90 for a couple reps.

Loading to 41"
105x2, 115keg x 0, 160x0

She was still too sore from Friday's workout to do anything productive here.

Dan,

"The Forklift" does not sleep. He loads stones to high platforms.
"The Forklift" does not poo. He simply lifts more stones to high platforms.
"The Forklift" does not cry tears. He oozes tacky, which he then rubs on his hands and loads stones with.

[Mike McConnell]

Clay, on what surface were you doing the sled on? I plan to use my tires to do some sprints with. Any experience on using tires to work the legs?

[ClayEdgin]

Mike, we pull the sled in the street. We've done forward drags before with a harness and pulling weights on the tire sled and it was a good exercise. Real tough to keep any kind of momentum going. I'd recommend sled dragging for conditioning.

[Mike McConnell]

Thanks. I plan to do that in a few months from now. Gotta bring my squats and deads up first, and strengthen my back. More tire flips. Get my wind so I won't be sucking much of it. Plenty of time.

Saw the Nov 28 Rio Rancho news. Nice.

http://www.observer-online.com/articles/2005/11/28/sports/sports1.txt

[ClayEdgin]

Sweetness.

I got some good videos of me holding 455 overhead that I'm putting up tonight.

Axle overhead:
Me: 160x5 strict, 210x3 (1 strict)
Travis: 160x5, 210x5
Jen: 70x5, 80x3, 90xALMOST like 7 times.

Man, Jen almost had that weight. She is really, really nervous about competing in front of a group of people but I said that she can either tune it out, let it intimidate her, or use it to rise to the challenge. She had that thing so close so many times! She was pissed, but encouraged.

Log:
Me: 225x1 strict, 225x2 strict (PR), 225x3, 245x1, 275x1
Travis: 180x5, 225x1

Seated presses from pins (dead stop each rep):
Me: 135x5 (24" ROM), 185x5 (18" ROM), 195x5 (18" ROM), 225x5 (12" ROM), 235x5 (12" ROM) (PR)
Travis: 95x5 (24") 155x4 (18") 155x4 (18"), 185x5 (12") 195x5 (12")
Jen: 65x5 (12"), 75x5 (12")

Travis, correct my numbers here for you if they're wrong.

Overhead supports:
Me: 225x5, 275x5, 315x5, 365x1, 405x1, 455x1
Travis: 225x5, 275x5, 315x5, 365x1, 405x1
Shawn: 225x5, 275x5, 315x5, 365x1

As I stood there with 455 overhead struggling for my life, I pondered Jesse doing 40 more pounds behind his neck. I cried a little.

Shawn got in on the log action some more, cleaning the 180 and 225 but not pressing them. Then he got the Inch dumbbell above his knee a couple times.

[Jay Hagadorn]

I got some good videos of me holding 455 overhead that I'm putting up tonight.



Overhead supports:
Me: 225x5, 275x5, 315x5, 365x1, 405x1, 455x1
Travis: 225x5, 275x5, 315x5, 365x1, 405x1
Shawn: 225x5, 275x5, 315x5, 365x1

As I stood there with 455 overhead struggling for my life, I pondered Jesse doing 40 more pounds behind his neck. I cried a little.



Clay-

Nice workout. How did you do these? Post the vid, I'de like to see you doing that, along w/ the whole crying bit... ;)

[D.J. Satterfield]

Clay, what happened to Chan? Did you guys run him off. :LOL:

[ClayEdgin]

DJ - leading up to the Kansas show, Chan was barely able to do the competition weights because they were right at his max at the time. When we got to Kansas, the different feel of the implements combined with the crowd messed his head up a little bit and the experience left a bad taste in his mouth I think. After KS, I didn't hear from him for like a month and then he said he was coming out, but didn't show. Last week he came out to see what I was going to need the spotters to do since he was volunteering his time at my contest this weekend. He says he still wants to come around and hang out, but I get the impression that his strongman career is over unless he competes in lighter contests for a while. He's thinking about doing the AZ contest if he can get in as a Novice.

[D.J. Satterfield]

That is to bad. Tell him he just needs to stick with it and all will work out. I used to not always be into huge crowds but you just learn to block it out and focus on the task at hand. As far as the implements, that is why I train with thicker and lower farmers, 4" or thicker arm for conans, etc. to be prepared for most everything at a show. He looked like he had potential, just needed a little more mental focus. Anyway, hope he sticks with it, just wondered what happened to him.
Good Luck with the show this weekend.

[ClayEdgin]

Thanks. He is talking about competing in AZ as a novice so maybe that will spur him back into the gym.

[Lance Peterson]

Making some great progress Clay, great job!

[Mike McConnell]

Wish I could be there watching the Iron Will event. No can do. :(

Good luck to those who are competing. May it be a successful competition, Clay. Looking forward to some great pictures and perhaps a video. At least the weather will be close to 50 degrees for a high. Better than 20 or 30 degrees a few days ago. :)

[ClayEdgin]

First workout since contest.

Strict press:
135x10, 165x8, 185x5, 195x3

Push Press with bands (appx 50lbs of resistance not counted in weights listed below)
95x3, 135x3, 185x3, 225x2

Without bands:
275x1, 305x0

Seated press:
135x5 (24" ROM) 185x4 (18" ROM) 185x4 (18" ROM) 205x5 (12" ROM), 235x5 (12" ROM) (PR)

Bench press:
135x5, 185x5, 205x5

Heavy after all this pressing

Axle deads
160, 250, 340, 390, 430, 520, 610x0, 430x2, 520

[D.J. Satterfield]

Nice workout Clay. Those axle deads look like fun.
It looks like we could watch a movie on your back in that new avatar. :KD:
Nice.

[ClayEdgin]

What a waste of energy. I am flying solo today and am being rushed out of the house so of course there was no quality to the workout. Crap.

[ClayEdgin]

Well, that was humbling.

Decided to test my weaknesses and see just how weak they are so I set up a box at 13" and did some box squats for the first time in my life. I also did them with a very wide stance. As I lowered myself onto the box in the first few sets I realized that I'm apparently VERY inflexible in the hips. In fact, I couldn't do the initial couple of reps because the stretch was so severe that I felt weak and thought I wouldn't be able to rise off the box. I got some video for form critique but the battery died and I'm recharging it right now.

Wide stance 13" box squats:
135x5, x5, 155x5, x5, 175x5, x5, 195x5, x5

Probably good for 245-265 for a single, fresh. Horrible.

Sumo deadlifts, feet against plates:
135x5, 185x3, 225x3, x3, 275x3, x3

Not near a max, but it was getting hard. I remember Zach Passman showing us how to pull sumo at last year's Gathering at Steve B's house and his shins were perfectly straight, top of thighs were parallel to ground, back was very flat and straight, and he made the pull look easy. I can't quite get the flexibility going right now to pull that off, but I think the only way to do it is just to friggin do it.

So tonight was a wakeup call that I need to dedicate some time to getting my hips and posterior chain up to par. I thought I'd be able to work up to maybe 365 or 405 with the box squats and I think I would have if I was using my regular narrow stance, half good morning style. But keeping myself strictly upright and stretching my hips was what I'm shooting for, at least for a while. I'm already sore! :)

With my focus shifting temporarily to a single ply powerlifting meet in late April and less onto strongman contests (other than the one 1/21 in Tempe) I'm going to be trying to develop a base of strength for powerlifting and then move into a WSB template

[Dan Harrison]

I think the only way to do it is just to friggin do it.

So tonight was a wakeup call that I need to dedicate some time to...

I have had countless "wakeup calls". Lord knows. They are never fun, but you'll be glad you get them because it will show you where the weak links in your chain are. Let this inspire you even more to further improve your body in ways that you have neglected in the past. Strengthening this area could easily be the key to uncorking some massive squats and deadlifts in the future.

Just friggin do it, man. I'll be watching.

[Jay O'Neill]

never fear Clay... those numbers will go up very quickly...

[ClayEdgin]

Thanks guys, I really am encouraged to push harder and see where this takes me.

Shawn came over and we did some grip stuff and I tried the bench shirt again. I don't think I had it on right. Actually, I bought the shirt when I was about 30lbs heavier and it was fitting fine then (I couldn't get 365 to touch in it) but tonight I had no problem touching that weight. Couldn't quite press it though. I have a LONG road ahead of me!

[D.J. Satterfield]

Keep punding with the powerlifting stuff Clay, it has provided me with a great base for strongman, plus keeps me occupied in the winter here when sub-zero temps hit and snow piles up on the ground.
Just set some numbers in a meet and you will improve from there.

[ClayEdgin]

Thanks DJ. Starting this coming week, I'm going to design and start a PL routine based off of Westside principles. We'll see if I can hang in with it.

I've been sick most of the week and am still feeling crappy today so I wasn't expecting much. Nice to be surprised once in a while. Was flying solo today. My grandma bought me a dolly with an 800lb capacity so it was easy to drag the plates outside for the yoke walking.

Strict press:
135x10, 165x8, 185x5

Yoke for 50ft:
285x2, 465x2, 645x2, 805x2 (PR)

Had one drop on the 805 each way and felt way more solid than I thought I would. Once I got moving, I felt really confident about finishing the course. I think it may be due in part to switching back to Chuck Taylors rather than big ol work boots. I stopped Chuckin' it a while back because my heels were hurting but they've been feeling really good lately so I'll give it another chance.

Now to hit a shower, get some lunch, take some DayQuil, then watch WSM.

[Mike Westerling]

Don't worry about low squat numbers. Once you get used to the box and wide stance you'll zoom right by where your old squat max was.
-Mike
PS Merry Christmas!

[ClayEdgin]

DE lower body

Decided to put something together based on the Westside template and see how it goes. The mistake I made tonight is that I had a big, greasy dinner beforehand and it almost came up a few times so I had to cut my workout short. I got to use my nice Woody bands from www.liftinglarge.com tonight and they rocked.

13" box squats w/green bands*
45x5, 95x5, 185x2x2x2x2x2x2x2x2

* = the site says they are 50-120lbs of resistance each so I'm not sure what kind of resistance we're looking at here during my work sets. 225 for these working sets should be a good challenge next week. I set up a mirror next to the box and tried to see where I was in relation to parallel. The 13" box puts me about an inch or two below and a 15" box is about as close to perfectly parallel as I can get.

Sumo deadlifts with doubled green band:
135x5, 225x15x15x0

First set of 15 was hard. Second set made me lay down and want to puke. As I approached the bar for the third set, I walked by it and immediately felt dizzy and started those stomach contractions that tell me it's time to give my dinner back, so I returned to me prone position on the cement floor for another 20 minutes, then hit the showers.

That doubled band made the lockout above the knees pretty solid. I had a hard time figuring out how to set it up so I could use the band resistance and still pull sumo so I wrapped the band around a couple 100lb plates and put it in the middle of the bar so I straddled it with the wide stance. Worked well I think.

Tomorrow is DE bench. This time, no greasy dinner beforehand.

[ClayEdgin]

DE bench

Bench with green Woody bands (50-120lbs):
45x5, 95x5, 135x5, 185x2 for 12 sets

I changed the grip width so I did 4 sets of 2 with each grip. 205 for the working sets next time. Took a little experimenting to find a way to hook the bands so they worked well but I think that it is all part of the learning process.

Standing tricep extensions on curl bar:
95x15, x15, x30

Bent over rows:
135x12, 185x12, x12

Not bad work. Still kinda feeling my way around this dynamic effort stuff and figuring out what weights I should be using to start with. Tomorrow is rest, Friday is ME squat, Saturday is ME bench.

[Dan Harrison]

The mistake I made tonight is that I had a big, greasy dinner beforehand

Well, that was smart.

Puking rules. I am gonna start doing some more speed work too, so I'll be right alongside you.

[ClayEdgin]

ME lower body

Crap, I cannot get used to a squat suit at all. I seem to be able to pull conventional in it, but sumo and squats are out of the question. I was hoping to get some sets of 2 in with the suit bottoms on a box, but I'm not strong enough to box squat enough weight to push me down onto the box. So in other words, I can use 405 and not touch the box but have the strength to do box squat it or I can use more weight to touch the box but not stand! That's some awkward middle ground.

Box Squats
135x5, 185x3, 225x2 (PR), 275x2 (PR), 315x2 (PR), 405x2 (suit), 405x0 with belt

A week ago I was fighting 195 and today I hit 315 without a belt or anything. I still need to work a wider stance though. I was doing these in the rack because I wanted to use the suit and have the option to dump the bar if I needed to, which I had to do twice.

Deadlifts:
8 sets of 2 @ 495lbs

This felt good and I should increase to like 515 or 525 next time. My low back is fried right now. For fun I tried to push press 135 and it felt like a ton because I had no core stability left.

Tomorrow is ME bench and I hope to murder some 3 board presses. If I can't get used to the equipment for the powerlifting meet on 4/22, I will just squat with a belt and wraps, pull in the suit, and bench with a shirt. We'll see how things go.

[benjamin d. moore]

You'll get used to it. Are you training with guys that have used a suit before? I'm doing a PL meet 3/14 so we'll make the journey together. You should have seen me playing around with my new knee wraps tonight, LOL. The only PL meets I did before strongman were RAW. Thought I'd do this to see where I'm at. Right now I'm an official gear whore with an F6, Double Ply Z-suit, Ironwraps, etc. Christ, what the hell are we getting into???

[ClayEdgin]

haha really huh! There are some guys in town that do single ply powerlifting and I've met most of them but they train at a Gold's Gym that I don't quite have the means to afford yet. I'm hoping to sell some stuff to get the membership fees together and then go train with guys who can give me instant feedback and coaching. Also, it would be nice to have people there to spot me in case I fell over with a quarter ton on my back or something!

I have a Fury, Centurion, and APT knee wraps and I feel like a gear-whore too.

[ClayEdgin]

Got triceps for days, son!

As Mac so eloquently put it, it's time to get my swole on and do the damn thang. My #1 goal for this year is to get my overhead numbers up and work on the weakness that is my pressing. Tonight was a good step in that direction.

3 Board ME bench:
135x10, 185x5, 225x2, 275x2, x2, 315x2x2x2x2x2x2x2x2 (PR)

Dang, I never smoked the 3 boards like this before. 335 for those working sets next time.

Standing strict presses:
135x10, 185x6 (PR), 225x1 (PR!)

Upon review of the video, it looks like I leaned back a bit to start the press so I'd guess it was more of an Olympic press than a real strict press, but it was very satisfying to get this. Seems I do my best pressing after doing a bunch of heavier work.

Seated presses (dead stop singles):
From 24" ROM - 135x5
From 18" ROM - 185x5, 185x5 (PR I think)
From 12" ROM - 225x5, 225x5

The second set of 225 felt lighter than the first set but I didn't think I had it in me after doing the first set.

Standing tricep extensions:
95x15 x 3 sets (PR)

I incorrectly listed my previous attempt a few days ago at 95 lbs when in fact it was 75lbs. I'm mis-calculated the weight of the curl bar as 45lbs instead of 25.

Good work tonight. It was a few degrees above freezing outside but the garage was smoking hot and I am drenched.

[ClayEdgin]

DE lower

Box squats with green woody bands (50-120lbs each) to 15" box:
barx10, 135x2x2, 185x2x2, 225x2 for 8 sets

Sumbitch, I was flying off that box in the beginning sets. I'm already feeling more flexibility and strength throughout the hips. The band tension was pretty big - 135 felt like 315 at the top and 225 was definitely over 400. I've been trying to keep good form on all these but the last few sets the form broke down and I had to fight harder to keep my hips underneath me.

Good mornings with green woody bands
barx15, 135x15 for 3 sets

I used a wide stance on these and it felt much harder. My depth on these was pretty good I'd say - I'd go to where the band would start to get some slack in it and then come up quick. Bands bring a whole new level of pain to the mix.

Shrugs:
135x15, 225x15, 425x10

DE bench tomorrow - 3 board press with bands, floor presses, standing tricep extensions. Maybe sub skullcrushers for the standing tri ext's if my back and legs are as smoked as I think they'll be.

[Dan Harrison]

Clay Edgin died ten years ago, but the Grim Reaper can't get up the courage to tell him.

[ClayEdgin]

DE bench

I was going to do this last night but Wednesdays is the only night Kelli and I have together without our daughter so we usually just get some takeout and watch a movie.

Bench with green woody bands:
barx10, 95x5, 135x5, 225x12 sets of 2 with 3 different width grips

I think this is a PR for working sets. I definitely won't be jumping to 275 next week. Maybe 245 and I'll try to keep my technique tighter.

Seated presses for dead stop singles:
135x5 (24" ROM) 185x5 (18" ROM) 185x5 (12" ROM) 225x5 (12" ROM) 275x1 (12" ROM) (PR) 275x5 (6" ROM) (PR), 315x1 (6" ROM) (PR), 365x3 (6" ROM) (PR)

I do love this exercise. I damn near lost my balance twice on the 365 and was real close to having to throw the bar back behind me. That would have sucked.

Standing tricep extensions:
95x15 for 3 sets, x20 for 1 set

[Dan Harrison]

I was going to do this last night but Wednesdays is the only night Kelli and I have together without our daughter so we usually just get some takeout and watch a movie.



You need to sell your family for some more strongman implements. They are hindering your progress. Be liek Dan, lonely and miserable, but doing events every day. And speaking of implements, you had better start using them more often if you want to stay in good shape for Arizona. I dont' wanna hear this "I use them once a week" crap, mister! I'd do log for reps, lots of sled dragging, stones, light yoke runs, and light tire flip. Enough with the fancy stuff, big-uns.

I still love you. I shouldn't have to say that. In fact, it's pretty gay. Gays...bah....what was I talking about again? Nevermind.

[ClayEdgin]

I'm heading up to Farmington to train with my buddy Travis on Sunday and we'll hit some events. My strongman training for this contest is minimal and after it I will be training for a powerlifting meet in April and maybe doing events once a week if I have the strength left. Building the raw power will help a lot I think.

[ClayEdgin]

Light event work

Warren came out today and we hit a couple events just to knock the rust off.

Yoke carry (conan's type walk)
285x50ft, 385x180ft

I forgot how much this type of carry presses into the lungs!

Keg clean and press
115 for a bunch of cleans, presses and snatches.

I'm going up to Farmington tomorrow to train with Travis so I wasn't interested in going too heavy today.

[ClayEdgin]

Frenzy in Farmington

I made the 3hr drive up to Farmington today to train with Travis at the high school where he gets to use their gym.

14" log:
Me: 170x5, 190x5, x3, 214x3, 224x3
Travis: 170x5, x5, 190x3, x3, 214x1 I think

More gas in the tank on this one. This log is huge!

Push press from rack:
Me: 135x5, 185x2, 225x2, 245x2, 255x1, 305x1 (PR!)
Travis: 135x5, 185x5, 225x5, 245x1, 255x1 (PR)

Sweet! This is my first push press PR since I think March of last year.

Yoke:
Me: 250x50ft, 430x50ft, 610x50ft, 710x50ft, 850x10ft (PR), 610x50ftx2, 430x100ftx2
Travis: 250x50ft, 430x50ft, 610x50ft, 710x50ft (PR), 610x50ftx2, 430x100ftx2

850 felt okay to walk with but I took a wrong step and the yoke bent me backwards a bit, so rather than abuse my spine some more we broke the weights down and did lighter runs with more speed. On the second run with 610 I was moving so fast that Travis had to jog to keep up with me.

Farmers walk for 50ft:
Both: 160, 200, 250

Seated arm over arm pull for 100ft
Both: 135 on tire sled, 180 on tire sled, Travis' pickup x3

The truck felt about as hard as the 180 on the tire sled but the nice thing was the truck allowed you get some momentum going unlike the tire sled which forced you to restart the weight each time. We finished with a pretty sick pump in the arms, back and legs.

[Dan Harrison]

More gas in the tank on this one. This log is huge!



Sounds like what my roommate said after he clogged the toilet yesterday.

Nice 305 lift. Let's see 315 next week, man. Congrats.

[ClayEdgin]

DE lower

Yay, last week with bands! haha

Box squats with green woody bands:
95x10, x5, 135x3, 185x3, 245x8 sets of 2 (PR)

Every week I feel like what I did was close to my max and then I put 10-20lbs more on the bar and it goes up. The last set was getting ugly form-wise.

18" stiff legged deadlifts:
315x12, 365x12, 405x15

After the last set, I sat on some bags of concrete for a while and then had my wife help me up because I couldn't quite make it on my own.

[D.J. Satterfield]

Clay -
Nice website. I checked out all your pictures from the contests.
Looks great man.

[Jonathan Mills]

Good work on the push presses Clay!

Especially considering that it was after the log :marv:

[ClayEdgin]

Another good one.

Bench with green woody bands (50-120lbs):
135x6, 185x3, 245x12 sets of 2 with 3 width grips (PR)

On the 3rd to last set, I got out of the groove a bit and rolled my left shoulder. Interestingly enough, the last couple of sets went easily and without pain.

Reverse grip bench:
135x20, x15, x15

Crap, I forgot how much these smoke my entire arms. In fact, they killed my pressing strength the rest of the night!

Seated press from pins, dead stop each rep:
135x5 (24" ROM), 155x3 (24" ROM) 155x5 (18" ROM) 175x5 (18" ROM), 200x5 (12" ROM)

See, my pressing strength was just murdered! Call the police! Draw the chalk line around my blood-engorged triceps! Alert the next of kin!

Standing tricep extensions:
75x20, x20, x20

At this point, the brain was just shutting down the pressing muscles and each rep took a ton of focus.

[D.J. Satterfield]

Good work Clay, looks like this new program is working out well.

[ClayEdgin]

Thanks DJ. I'm lacking the brute power that a lot of the top guys have and as I'm trying to catch up, I'm noticing that it is improving my other strongman lifts too.

[ClayEdgin]

Travis came back into town today so we hit a couple events.

3 board press
Me: 135x10, 185x5, 225x3, 275x2, 315x1, 335x1 (PR), 355x0x0
Travis: 135x10, 225x5, 275x2x2x2, 295x1

I was much closer on the second attempt with 355. I felt like one more attempt and I would have had it but I was just using the 3 boards for a warmup for the log since that seems to work for me.

12" log
Me: 225x4, 260x3, 275x1, 315x0x0x0x0
Travis: 225x2 after a bunch of misses

I video'd the 315 attempts and I should not have failed those lifts. There were a couple where I was only a few inches away from locking it out completely. The board presses might have sapped the last couple inches of press I had left on those. I'll try a max again in a couple more weeks and I expect to hit 315 for sure.

Yoke for 100ft (speed runs):
Both: 285x2, 465x2, 565x3, 465x2, 285x400ft for Travis, 600ft for me then 285x500ft for Travis and 600ft for me.

Yoke felt alright. I had some pretty quick feet on the 565 and was pleased with that. The 285 at the end became more of a test of pain tolerance. After a couple hundred feet, having our arms holding the cross bar caused the hands and arms to tingle like pins and needles. The cardio demands of those runs were secondary to the pain of the shoulders.

Then we did some two hand plate pinch. I worked up to 185 and failed 195. Travis got a new PR of 135 and did a couple holds with 115. Then we ripped phonebooks using several different techniques and filled up the large recycling garbage can. I hit a couple ripping PR's using the gripnrip and sideways techniques.

[Mike McConnell]

Thanks DJ. I'm lacking the brute power that a lot of the top guys have and as I'm trying to catch up, I'm noticing that it is improving my other strongman lifts too.
Keep it up Clay. You'll soon be the terror of strongman competitions.

[ClayEdgin]

I wasn't sure how I would do in this competition because I had only touched the implements twice in six weeks. Turned out my favorite event, the stones, would come back to bite me in the butt.

260 log for reps - 5 reps. This is a PR, less than I thought I was capable of on that day, and bad enough to get second to last among my division. Harrison got 10 and Ryan Bakke got 12. Probably because, as Dan said, the guy has legs for triceps!

285 farmers for 100ft - finished without any drops in 17 seconds. Grip felt good and I thought I was moving quick but I guess not quick enough for a PR. It was still good enough for first in the event.

690 yoke and 750 tire. The tire was screwing with my head before the contest because I was having a hard time with it. Turns out the yoke would kick my butt more than the tire. I dropped the yoke 2 times and wasn't moving nearly as quick as I had done in practice. Got 4 flips on the tire and ended up beating Jarrod Beekly by an inch in this medley. I think I got 3rd in that event.

Axle dead for max. This bar had decent knurling on the left side and very shallow, almost non-existant knurling on the right side. The progression was in 40lb jumps and we started at 445. I passed at 445 and did 485, along with everyone else. Then I made a ballsy move that could have bit me in the ass. I skipped 525 and opted for 565 because I figured a couple guys would get 525 and I wanted to be fresher for my attempt. Turns out everyone missed 525 so instead of doing 525 I pulled 565 for my second attempt and got it. I felt good for 600 with some hitching but I don't know if my grip would have held out for that.

Stones 260-370 to staggered platforms. Did the first three in one motion, loaded the next one from the lap and couldn't quite lap the 370. I hadn't taken the time beforehand to make sure it was dust free and when I grabbed it I couldn't get any stick. I watched Dan and Kevin load the 370 to 63" and not thinking that I had a chance at that platform, I tried the 370 to 61" and got it.

Things that worked for me: Grip came through as usual, olympic lifting shoes worked well on the log press, more work on the 3 board presses and seated presses got me probably 1-2 reps on the logs.

Things that didn't work for me: Not spending more time on the implements, not dusting that 370, underestimating the yoke weight (I thought it was 650).

Got third overall. I was tied for second going into the stones but Bakke loaded all five so that bumped me down.

[jbeeks99]

Clay, congrats you kicked butt. Hopefully me and Jay can work on our stuff and give a better showing in the coming months! We had a blast and it was cool to finaly meet ya!

[DaneGarreau]

Great job Clay. You leared a few things and that is very important.

[ClayEdgin]

Travis is moving back up to Farmington so I'll only get to train with him a couple times a month. That sucks, but I wish him the best! We hit the squats hard tonight. Harder than I probably should have actually.

16" box squats:
Up to 315x3 and 225 for a couple sets of 2 with bands, then 5x5 on 225 going to rock bottom without the box

Partial front squats:
225x5 for 3 sets, 275x5 for 2 sets

This exercise is being used to develop the stability and strength to get a stronger leg drive on push presses. I think the ROM was 12-15" and we were touching the bar to the pins on each rep

Good mornings:
135x15, 185x1

On the first rep at 185 I felt my right hamstring pull and that was enough to stop right there. Nothing major and it doesn't hurt any more than the rest of my lower body but I think I may have done too much too soon after the contest. Can you love training too much?

[ClayEdgin]

I had intended to press yesterday but my legs are wrecked from squatting. Today wasn't as bad as yesterday and I imagine tomorrow should feel better. Still, good pressing tonight.

3 board press:
135x10, 185x10, 225x5, 275x5, 315x3, 335x1, 355x0x0x1 (PR)

It sucks to miss a board press because then you have to roll the bar off the boards and let it hit the pins. Ended up tearing my shirt a bit where the bar pinned me. But I was pretty stoked to hit this weight since it buried me not too long ago.

Push press:
135x10 strict, 185x5 strict, 225x3, 315x0 (8 times)

I am so pissed about missing 315. On one attempt I had it past the sticking point but just quit on it because I misjudged where the bar was. My wrists were getting destroyed having 315 crashing down on them so I had to stop at 8 attempts.

Standing tricep extensions:
95x15, 115x15, 115x10, 115x10 (PRs)

I'm hesitant to call any weight done as accessory work a PR but I felt good about this weight so I'll take the PR. I can't get too hung up on rewarding myself for little things like this though.

Bodyweight is around 330 today and on its way back down. I expect some strength losses to occur but in the long run I'll be stronger for it. Been religiously taking my taurine, ZMA, and protein and definitely feeling a difference.

[Dan Harrison]

Push press:
135x10 strict, 185x5 strict, 225x3, 315x0 (8 times)

I am so pissed about missing 315. On one attempt I had it past the sticking point but just quit on it because I misjudged where the bar was. My wrists were getting destroyed having 315 crashing down on them so I had to stop at 8 attempts.



8 attempts at your PR weight? That is freaking awesome. :EP: That is what I call HUNGER.

It's gonna feel incredible when you get it locked out next time, man. No worries...those attempts are STRENGTHENING even if you don't lock it out.

Keep the faith!

[ClayEdgin]

Those failures are making me stronger, but I sure would like to lock it out at least once! When Chan was training with us, he tried 185 overhead ELEVEN times in one night before finally getting it locked out. We just wouldn't let him quit and I keep thinking about that. It's like every time I get behind the 8 ball and the pressure starts to mount, I just repeat "This is where champions are made" and that is more than enough motivation to get after whatever I'm trying to accomplish.

[ClayEdgin]

Return of the living deadlift!

Log cleans:
225x2x2, 275x2x2, 325x2, 345x0

Having a gut doesn't make cleaning the log any easier when you're wearing a belt.

18" deadlifts:
245x2, 335x2, 425x2, 515x2, 605x1, 665x1 (PR)

Pulls at this height are just what I need to kickstart my deadlifts.

Deadlifts:
610x1 (PR)

Ho-lee-crap. I had some serious ASS POWER off the floor. God bless box squats.

Finished out the day by one hand pinching 2 45lb plates for the first time with either hand.

[Patrick McGuffin]

Stop being such a freak Clay! :mag:

[Aaron McDonald]

3 prs clay, awsome job.

have you lifted the blob yet?

[ClayEdgin]

Thanks guys! Yes, Aaron, I've lifted it with either hand and cleaned it with the right.

[ClayEdgin]

Good night of squatting in the gear.

Squats:
135x10, 225x5, 275x5, 315x2, 365x2, 405x2, 445x1, 495x1 (sb), 545x1 (sb), 600x1 (s) (PR), 635x1 (s) (PR), 650x0 (s + wraps)

(s) = suit and belt, straps up
(sb) = suit bottoms and belt

I am feeling better about my squats with gear. 635 was still a few inches high of parallel but truthfully that is as far down as I could go. With 650 I felt I could have been only an inch or two high but I unwisely let go of some air I was holding in order to release some of the pressure on my head. Yeah, not a good idea. That pretty much dumped me forward. 635 came up real fast though and I'm sure I would have had 650 and more.

Lots of good learning going on tonight. My goal for the meet in April was to hit 650 but it looks like unless I go wider in my stance that I won't be able to hit depth with that kind of weight. I think that with some more work in the suit I could have 680-700 by meet time. Shit, wouldn't that be wonderful. If I hit 700 in a meet I would get wood.

[Scott Porter]

Nice job on the deadlift PR!

What kind of suit do you have?

[doug Carroll]

Good job Clay, now to get down to brass tacks. 700 is doable, get it in your head right now. Your 330ish Clay, you have the frame to handle big squats, now you just have to get them on your back.Here is a sample how I used to warmup, I think it could help you.
Sqt 132x3x10, 402x3,add comp.belt, 496x1,add wraps, 550x1,add suit bottoms, 633x1,pull straps up, 661x1, 688x1. As you can see Clay my whole focus was getting to my top set, and be fresh. Regardless of size the lifter wants to warmup, not wear out. The 3x10s warm you up, the set of 3 wakes up the cns, the singles get your head right and technique ready for the max attempts without fatigue. Hope this helps, Doug

[ClayEdgin]

Scott, it is a Titan Centurion (single ply polyester). I got it from www.liftinglarge.com.

Thanks for that great advice Doug. My knees never give me problems until I start my first couple sets of squats and then they whine a little but once I get a dozen or so reps in they start to feel good and they feel great on the max effort stuff.

I was surprised how tightly I felt wrapped once I put the suit, belt and wraps on. Felt like I could have survived with a grand on my back, although I know I have no chance of squatting it at this point! haha

330ish Clay, you have the frame to handle big squats, now you just have to get them on your back.

I tell myself this a lot. I figure that with a strong work ethic and the genetic foundation I was given there's no reason why I can't be obscenely strong over time. What is helping on the squats a lot is the yoke work. Taking 800 for a stroll makes walking out a 650 squat feel like a cake walk.

[ClayEdgin]

Not good. I don't like to make excuses but I think the heavy squatting two days ago really fried my legs and the push presses just weren't happening. Very frustrating. But you have to have bad workouts in order to appreciate the good ones.

3 board bench:
135x10, 185x8, 225x5, 275x3, 315x2

Strict press:
135x5, 185x3, 225x2 (first was leg driven, second was strict)

Push press:

225x2 more, 275x1, 315x12 failed attempts

Seated presses in rack
135x5 (24" ROM), 185x5 (18" ROM), 195x3 (18" ROM)

By this point I was thoroughly disgusted and all out of bad words to say I hit the showers.

Crap.

[GregMonfredo]

Damn, 12 attempts! I thought I was crazy trying a new PR on floor presses 4 times with 4 misses last week! Good job sticking with it. You'll get it soon.

[ClayEdgin]

One of the guys I used to train with tried 185 overhead 11 times before finally making it on his 12th attempt and I kept getting a little closer on the pressing with each attempt but my legs were just turning into Jello.

[ClayEdgin]

Went to Warren's yesterday to get some work in on the events for his contest. I took my yoke but noticed that a weld had broken in a couple places so I need to repair that before doing anything else on it. I've been training every other day it seems, and doing it with heavy weights, so I felt pretty rundown. Been battling some pneumonia all week too which makes it really hard to huff and puff after doing anything.

530lb tire flip - 7 flips x 2 sets

This wasn't hard, I just made it look that way. Cold air + pneumonia = no breathing.

Keg clean and press - 100, 120, 140, 160, 180, 200 (PR)

I did all the kegs up to the 200 with a parallel grip with both hands on the bottom of the keg. On the 200 I tried that and got it over my head 3 times but just couldn't lock it out because of the heavy pressing I had done a couple days earlier. So I cleaned it with a parallel grip and then switched my grip so the keg was tilted and pressed it out.

Yoke carry in crook of arms - 285x50ftx2, 335x50ftx2

Easy. I'm taking a few more days off just to give my body a chance to recover. I've been going seemingly nonstop since the Arizona contest on 1/21 because I've been so jacked up to get stronger after seeing everyone else and how strong they were.

[ClayEdgin]

Oh yeah!

3 board press:
135x10, 185x8, 225x5, 315x2

Oh man, this felt easy

Push press:
135x10 (strict), 225x2 (strict), 275x2, 315x1 (PR), 320x1 (PR!), 275x3, 275x2

OH YEAH. I had 315 so fast that it locked out and unlocked before I knew what was going on!

Seated pin presses:
135x5 (24" ROM), 185x5 (18" ROM), 185x5 (12" ROM), 225x5 (12" ROM)

Standing tricep extensions:
115x10 x 3 sets

OH man, that 320 felt awesome. Right through the sticking point and into the sky!

[ClayEdgin]

Travis came down from Farmington to train today which was pretty cool. Got some good work done.

Farmers for 50ft:
Me: 160x2, 210x2, 250, 300, 400 (PR)
Travis: 160x2, 210x2, 250, 300 (PR)

Two PR's to start the day off was pretty damn sweet. No drops on ANYTHING.

Yoke for 50ft:
Me: 350, 430, 610
Travis: 350, 430, 610

Ugh, tough! No drops but the previous farmers stuff was killing my stability.

800lb tire:
Both: 4 sets of 3 flips uphill and downhill

Stones to 63":
Me: 160x2, 230x3
Travis: 160x2, 230x1

Chalk only on these since it was way too cold to use tacky. I stepped out of the house this morning and it was 6 degrees. It warmed up to 30 or so by the time we were lifting but that's still pretty damn cold.

Then LOTS of phonebook ripping.

[Grant Sigafoos]

400 for 50 ft is really awesome, Clay! I remember when I went to the Venice Beach super Series in June, a lot of the athletes couldn't cut it with 385 for about half that distance! Those are pros, too.

[TravisClary]

Great job on the PR today. Also enjoyed the training session as well, always a pleasure to train there.

[SBaier]

400 FW Clay is just bad@$$!

[ClayEdgin]

Hit Gold's gym with some local powerlifters to get some real technical expertise on my lifts. Tonight was bench night so I worked in and got some great pointers. One in particular to fill my belly with air and bring the bar down lower which reduced my range of motion by quite a lot.

Bench press:
All x5 - 95, 115, 185, 225, 275
The last rep at 275 was very difficult. It's so weird to be using a wider grip. With a narrow grip I can get more reps but I gotta start feeling the grip width that I'll use in a shirt. No shirt work tonight though.

Decline press:
All x8 - 115, 185, 225, 275
Needed a little help on locking out the last rep at 275 but otherwise the set felt good.

Tricep cable pushdowns:
180x8, 190x8, 200x8, 200x8, 100x20, 150x10

Tate presses:
35's x 8, 50's x 8, 55's x 7, 55's x 5
The last rep just nailed me in the chest. This exercise feels different than anything I've ever done.

Plate front raises:
X8 - 35, 45, 45, 45

Curls:
x8 - 70, 90, 90

Then I played around with the Hammer Strength gripper machine and did 6 plates for some reps with both hands. That thing is pretty cool.