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Alex Klotz
08-17-2007, 05:56 PM
First strongman competition is a week tomorrow. I'm taking the next week off lifting. Got any words of advice or motivation?
GregMonfredo
08-17-2007, 05:59 PM
Don't worry about where you are going to place and have fun. Goodluck
benjamin d. moore
08-17-2007, 06:08 PM
Congrats on a great decision to jump in! Good luck and have fun!
Matt Brouse
08-17-2007, 06:28 PM
Hit some PRs. That's all that matters.
Scott Markowitz
08-17-2007, 07:01 PM
Do the best you can do - beat the weights, exceed your expectations, and you'll be just fine. Don't concern yourself with how the other guys do - that's not something you can control. Since you can't control it, there's no sense in worrying about it.
CharlesDMickey
08-17-2007, 07:10 PM
Do the best you can do - beat the weights, exceed your expectations, and you'll be just fine. Don't concern yourself with how the other guys do - that's not something you can control. Since you can't control it, there's no sense in worrying about it.

Yep....

IMO strongman is competiton against yourself. Just beat anything you've done in the past.

What contest are you doing? We've got the North Bay Pain and GLory next week.
Mike Landrich
08-17-2007, 07:32 PM
Training in the gym makes you strong. Testosterone makes you a man. Going onto the field and competing makes you a Strongman. Once you have competed, you will realize just how special that makes you and how elite a group we are.
Zaid Ziadeh
08-17-2007, 07:50 PM
Show them strong, hit PRs and have fun.
GOOD LUCK.
Jonathan Macfarlane
08-17-2007, 08:25 PM
Every man dies, not every man really squats.
ClayEdgin
08-17-2007, 08:39 PM
Before the Fresno pro-am, I had this on my wall in front of my bed:

"Your #1 goal in Fresno is to perform at the level you know you are at. You have trained harder than ever. Come home with PRIDE"

Also, don't forget that months of training are condensed into 30 second bursts of activity, so if you don't feel that sense of urgency to get the job done quickly, someone else will.
Alex Klotz
08-17-2007, 10:52 PM
Thanks all.

What contest are you doing? We've got the North Bay Pain and GLory next week.

Island Heroes in Toronto. It's about the right level for guys like me.
ADAMBAUER
08-18-2007, 06:05 AM
As it has been said don't sweat what the others do, concentrate on yourself. Do your best and leave everything on the floor. Hold your head high and most of all HAVE FUN!!
Good luck,
Alex Klotz
08-26-2007, 02:24 PM
Well, I had my competition and it was a lot of fun. Good group of people; very encouraging.

First was the log clean and press, I got five reps which I was happy with, although I was the first to go so I didn't have something to work against. If a few other people had gone first I might have done six or seven. About halfway through a chunk of the (wooden) log broke off (it was raining the night before) and they had to duct tape it back together.

Then was the tire flip, I did seven flips, and the highest was ten, so that was my best event. If you who recommended cleats for this in my other thread, you are a genius. Then was farmer's walk. The handles were made of train tracks so they were about five feet long and twisted around like crazy. I started out strong, doing two laps, dropping, then doing another, but about halfway down my next lap with 40 seconds left I couldn't even deadlift the damn things off the ground. Disappointing, but I gave it my best.

Finally was the rock lift, but by that time I was so fried that I couldn't even get it off the ground, even though I had done it in practise. By the way, I know somebody complained that this was a stupid event because it favoured taller lifters, but it worked like this: x points for getting it over your head, x-1 points for getting it to your shoulders, etc.

I didn't come in last overall; which was my basic goal as I was just starting out and having some fun. There were some really strong guys there. It's a reminded that even though I feel strong doing deadlifts around the curl monkeys, there are still plenty of people who can humble me.

I have pictures of the first two events, and videos of the whole thing should be around eventually.

http://photos-397.ll.facebook.com/photos-ll-sctm/v122/88/5/81001397/n81001397_34553916_75.jpg

http://photos-397.ll.facebook.com/photos-ll-sctm/v122/88/5/81001397/n81001397_34553940_7721.jpg
Paul Savage
08-26-2007, 02:31 PM
well done, come back stronger next time
Mike Landrich
08-26-2007, 06:08 PM
Good job. Nice weather for a competition too. How did the Team Barbarian guys do?
Alex Klotz
08-26-2007, 08:52 PM
Yeah it stopped raining for most of the comp, although it got pretty nasty towards the end.

I think Drew and Steve came first and second in almost every event. Steve was the first guy ever to press the rock, and Drew got kind of screwed over in the placing; he was last to go in the press and first to go in the flip.
Elliot_Storey
08-26-2007, 08:56 PM
Nice job man! It sounds like you caught the fever...and the only prescription...is more strongman! Like you, I put my pants on one leg at a time; except, after my pants are on, I make gold records.

























...yes, THE Bruce Dickinson.
Mike Landrich
08-27-2007, 05:55 AM
Abou the weather. For some dumb reason, I was thinking the contest was yesterday, not Sat. Saturday was rough. Sunday would've been better.

Now that you've got the competition fever, you're lucky. There are a lot of competitions in the area. Do you read the ontariostrongman forum?
Alex Klotz
08-27-2007, 07:30 AM
No, but I check the main page occasionally. I still need to train a lot more before I can compete in most of the competitions though. Next summer.
Mike Landrich
08-27-2007, 10:23 PM
No, but I check the main page occasionally. I still need to train a lot more before I can compete in most of the competitions though. Next summer.

Watch for Dunnville Mudcat. It's good novice show. In the meantime, get in contact with Josh Hewitt at Team Barbarian. They are good guys and will push you to train smarter, better and harder.

http://www.teambarbarian.com/index.html
Alex Klotz
08-28-2007, 03:51 AM
I met him on Saturday. I'll probably contact them and see if I can train with them next summer if I'm in Toronto; I'm back to Kingston for school in a few days.
Mike Landrich
08-28-2007, 06:47 AM
I met him on Saturday. I'll probably contact them and see if I can train with them next summer if I'm in Toronto; I'm back to Kingston for school in a few days.

I figured you were from Toronto, since you did the Island Heroes. Most guys outside TO never even heard of Ward Island (I know I never did until the first time I heard about this comp)
Alex Klotz
08-28-2007, 07:40 AM
It's not even an island. It's a peninsula off the main island.
Alex Klotz
08-30-2007, 06:10 AM
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Scott Markowitz
08-30-2007, 07:05 AM
Good effort on that. Next time you try a tire, try getting a little lower on it and using your legs instead of your back to lift. For one thing, you won't get a really heavy tire the way you did it. Also, once you are at full extension (ie, standing all the way up) the tire will be in a position to just push over rather than having to reposition yourself under it for another lifting motion.