Devlifters Welcome.
For those of us who spend our spare time away from training creating digital content, be it code, art, or anything in between.
Email Seth if you'd like to contribute.
I feel like the storm broke a little bit this week, well, yesterday really, but not in a good way. Well, i guess a good way, you know how sometimes you come to a realization about what's been bugging you but the realization isn't all good news? It's that sort of thing. My overall direction keeps solidifying though, which I really like. There's a ton of work in my future, but it's all work I want to do, and ultimately it's the kind of work that's going to "break the chains", if you will. Fun work is rarely ever hard work. Fun work that involves learning new skills and moves you towards your overall goal is the best kind...well ok, second to the kind of work you actually end up doing once you get to your goal and are...doing the work you set out to do in the first place. Something along those lines.
Sleep's for people who are BROKE -Fiddy
I am a little concerned with the way i'm feeling about training, i have this almost unnatural drive to be in the gym now, like my self-worth is tied up in my training. I know that's not healtyh, and I'm glad i can identify it, means i'm probably just being a drama queen, but you know, right now, i just...man, i just need to feel like i'm worth something somewhere, you know? Pathetic yeah, yeah i know, i am where i am of my own choosing...
An almost proper day of training again, gotta admit I'm still not used to the bike though. Windy as fuck today and I rode a little extra trying to find some alternate routes, really surprised I made it as far as fast as i did. Eh, nah, it was a good bit of riding, but yeah...sleep. I'd like to be where I can get back to fight training next week even with the bike commute. It's been almost a month since I've had this thing. Haven't been good about riding it.
My smile is forced, but the effort is genuine
Life is weird right now. Really weird. I'd love just a little bit of normalcy right now, you know, just a bit. I shouldn't be whining, really, life could be so much worse. I just...man...i just wish it always wasn't just one little thing. But you know, i finally feel like i have real direction, like, for the first time in years i feel like i'm going somewhere. Starting over at the bottom, i'm trying to break onto a career path that's even more exclusive than tech art, but oddly enough, i'm not scared. This is one of the few times in my life that I think i can honestly say the effort and the journey are going to be worth the outcome, because even if the outcome isn't what i want it to be, i'm going to have learned so much and be armed with all kinds of tools, so really, the only way I can fail is if i don't work hard enough. Starting over is always potentially scary, but i've been here before. It's like when i started in games, i worked really hard and learned what i needed to learn. I can do it all over again. Personally, i got nothin but time.
Squat: 155x5/175x5/205x10
DB Inc Press: 65 4x5/1x8
Seated Row: 160 4x5/1x8
OHX: 60 5x5
EZ Curl: 60 4x5/1x8
A1. DB Shldr Press: 45 4x5
A2. DB Rev Curl: 25 4x5
B1. Lat Raise: 20 3x10
B2. DB Skull: 25 3x10
C1. Bent Flye: 20 2x15
C2. Tri V-Push: 50 2x15
Blah...had to lump AM and PM together today, but thankfully tomorrow i'll be able to get on schedule. Bike in the AM...
Hey kids. I haven't posted in a while. Again. I'm good at that, just look at my actual blog.
Since last I posted, I competed in a real live NAS strongman competition. Proof of it lies here, and here:
It was a great experience, and I learned a LOT. For example:
Bring a canopy. It gets hot in the sun, and shade is good. I needed shade after the first event.
Speaking of the first event, a 290# sled is harder to drag than a 290# prowler. Gotta work on that.
I need more grip endurance
Nick Best, World Strongest Man competitor and finalist, was awesome, as was Zack McCarley, a lightweight pro, and even moreso his grandparents who helped me recover after the first event. The strongman community is amazingly supportive.
I am good at the log press.
I am better at atlas stones.
I hate trucks and ropes.
I spent the next week recovering from the comp as well as recovering from my bicep pain that flared up during the truck pull. I felt like a powerlifting meet piled into a truck and ran me over after the comp, but man it was fun.
After the recovery week, I trained a few times. My bicep felt iffy but heat and ice were doing the job. Some video of last week's training:
The next comp involves a chain yoke, so we built one and I tested it out. It's hard. Also messed with Axle Clean and Press, but couldn't move the weights I need for the next comp, so I researched the "strongman" way to do it. Turns out it's the "Continental" method. More on that later.
Day after this I did some cardio by way of sled dragging and tire flippin'- it was fun. No video, because sometimes you just gotta train with your lady.
The week got away from me, lots of stuff going on at work which has been a lot of fun but very time consuming, so I only trained once. Did some SSB squatting so as not to aggravate my bicep, plus some other stuff.
Today I figured on some event work. Was going to stick with lower body plus some light technique work. The plan was timed deadlifts, axle clean and press technique, chain yoke walk, atlas stone technique. Here's how it went:
The deadlifts went not so great- I wanted 10 reps, only got 6. I need to work on my grip endurance still...
Then it happened.
Remember the "Continental" method of the axle clean and press I mentioned earlier? I was trying that today. It was a method used for a long time before the more conventional clean became the standard for Olympic lifting, and is still used in strongman, especially with heavier weight. While my goal is to be able to do the conventional clean with the axle, the next comp requires a 175# (novice) or 225# (LW) axle clean and press, neither of which I can do conventionally with an axle. So I researched the technique and tried it out today.
It was going well till that bicep thing flared up on the 130#. I felt a pop... and I stopped for the day. I already had an appointment with an ortho for Monday (was supposed to be Thursday but I had a meeting go long so I rescheduled) for the biep thing, so I'll find out then what's going on.
For now, though, I wait. At least I had 3 pounds of ribs on the BBQ to console me.
