Push/Pull Wednesday: Meh

Rack pulls w/apparatus
10 reps @ 100 kgs
10 reps @ 140 kgs
5 reps @ 180 kgs
5 reps @ 220 kgs
5 reps @ 240 kgs PR

*Shoulder warmup

1-arm DB press (strict)
8 reps @ 20 kgs
5 reps @ 30 kgs
5 reps @ 40 kgs - goddamnit, I was spose to stop at 3!! 
3 reps @ 45 kgs - which is why this was only an Equal to best effort

1-arm Seated rows
10 reps @ 10 plates
10 reps @ 11 plates
10 reps @ 12 plates
10 reps @ 13 plates - not much of a PR, but it'll do

I AM hoping this freaking hooked harness thing will start to feel more comfortable with time. I can't use my belt for these lifts, as the bastard pinches my fat rolls under this contraption I'm wearing. It's not fun... some guys wear a foam pad between belt and harness. I just can't get the hang of that, so I'm gonna continue doing this exercise raw. My numbers would be more impressive were it not for this. Rack pulls of around 300 kgs should be easy enough for me, at this level, were I not injured. I must be able to do 275 with this thing in a couple of months time.

As I'm pretty much doing dumbbell OHP twice a week now, alternating between strict- and push-press makes sense to me; I need to improve both my raw pressing strength and technique in order to progress overall. The press events in 2013 I do not wan to miss. I may never be truly strong in this department, but I must get passably strong. A 70 kg DB push-press and 120 kg log or axle is not out of my reach. It may take all of next year (and possibly some of 2014... shit), but it will happen.

Heavy GMs tomorrow night. And I spose I better do some more of those 45 degree back raises, fml.

Squat Monday: 900 Pound Leg Press x5

45 degree Leg press

10 reps @ 165 kgs

8 reps @ 205 kgs

5 reps @ 285 kgs - corrected foot placement here and moved to the next set right away

5 reps @ 285 kgs 

5 reps @ 325 kgs

5 reps @ 365 kgs

5 reps @ 405 kgs / 893 lbs* - I'm gonna have to call this a PR, even though I've not done leg press in 10 years

Good mornings (light)

10 reps @ 30 kgs

10 reps @ 70 kgs

10 reps @ 110 kgs

8 reps @ 120 kgs

8 reps @ 130 kgs

45 degree Back raises

6 reps @ BW

15 reps @ BW +8 kg KB

15 reps @ BW +12 kg KB

TONIGHT was supposed to be my heavy squat session for the week, but I've been feeling pretty obliterated from last week's volume, so I took it easy, and took a seat on the leg press. My first time using it, and the first time I've used a leg press since I was a brah-trainer in my early twenties.

That's heavier than I was leg pressing in my early twenties. That's heavier than the biggest, strongest body builder in my gym was pressing, if I remember correctly.

*Yeah, I know it's not quite 900. Blame Joel - he told me it was nine hundy and I had no reason to doubt him till I checked just now. Lying bastard.

Thank jeebus I can rest tomorrow.

Saturday Training: Well, This is Boring

Saturday October 27th

Shoulder warmup

1-arm DB push-press

8 reps @ 20 kgs
8 reps @ 25 kgs
8 reps @ 30 kgs
9 reps @ 35 kgs PR for reps

1-arm Seated rows
12 reps @ 10 plates
12 reps @ 9 plates
12 reps @ 8 plates
12 reps @ 7 plates

1-arm Lateral pulldowns
10 reps @ 7 plates
10 reps @ 6 plates
10 reps @ 6 plates

1-arm Triceps pushdowns
15 reps @ 30 lbs
15 reps @ 40 lbs
12 reps @ 45 lbs

ALWAYS boring catching up on the stuff I've stopped doing just because I'm used to doing the two-handed variety of the exercise. These (yawn) machine exercises will be worked into my Wednesday night routine and will give me more to do on weekends while everyone else is running yoke or farmers... or doing log work, or axle work, or stones. Pretty much everything, really. I'll be indoors, doing this shit. For 6 months. Whoopee.

Surgery Update

THE update isn't much of an update. In fact, the whole surgery thing is a non-event as of now. While I'm conscious of how long it's going take for me to come back from this (and so I want to get it done and get healing ASAP), I'm not sure doing this and then hopping a flight to Brisbane and driving a rental car to Lismore with one arm in a sling and a newly-relocated biceps tendon... is such a good idea.

And as I've mentioned, I want a second opinion from a surgeon who has worked with guys moving really heavy weight. But a second opinion is going to take another few weeks, so everything is cancelled until after ASM. Which is really a better plan.

So, depending what surgeon #2 might say, I'll be under the knife some time in December and will have the xmas break to sloth it in my lazyboy and recover. 

Squat Thursday: Gassed Out Warming Up

Good mornings - heavy

10 reps @ 30 kgs
8 reps @ 70 kgs
6 reps @ 110 kgs
5 reps @ 140 kgs
4 reps @ 165 kgs PR

Squats w/cambered - light
12 reps @ 30 kgs
10 reps @ 70 kgs
10 reps @ 90 kgs
8 reps @ 110 kgs
1 reps @ 130 kgs - gassed

WELL, this one didn't go so well because I'm doing too much volume in my warmup sets. I need to use only 5 or even 3 rep sets building up to my mac effort stuff. Each time I'm alerted to a mistake like this, I wonder how I didn't see that before. Like my snatches, for instance.

Doing snatches with my good shoulder is a stupid idea, because for all the gains it provides (which realistically aren't much, if you're training Strongman) it's just going to risk further damage to my left side. Just because I currently can do it doesn't mean I should. And in my case, I certainly should not.

So I've put my dunce cap back on and am dropping snatches for 1-arm rows, pulldowns and triceps exercises. It's boring, but it's more effective and safer for me, and my tiny, tiny shoulder bones.

Push/Pull Wednesday: Keeping Left

Cage hip thrusts w/bondage harness

10 reps @ 60 kgs
10 reps @ 100 kgs
skipped 140 kgs here, felt like I was coasting
8 reps @ 180 kgs
6 reps @ 220 kgs
4 reps @ 240 kgs
NOTE: rack pin height 6.5

shoulder warmup!

1 arm DB press (strict)
8 reps @ 20 kgs
5 reps @ 30 kgs
3 reps @ 35 kgs
6 reps @ 40 kgs PR

1 arm BB snatches
5 reps @ 12 kgs
5 reps @ 20 kgs
5 reps @ 40 kgs - finally felt like I was achieving something with this set. Must start heavier. And this might have even been a PR

Pinwheelz
12 reps @ 20 kgs
10 reps @ 25 kgs
8 reps @ 30 kgs
6 reps @ 32.5 kgs

REALLY enjoyed this routine, though was off to a shaky start with the weird-ass contraption I was using in the rack. One of my coaches advised on proper form and movement, but he was the only person at the gym that night who had experience with the thing.

I also started way too light with the snatches - I just grabbed what was nearby, some already made-up spin lock bars. Lightweight baby - I got way more in me than that, I thought to myself - so I went to the platform and used a full sized barbell for the last set. Better, will have a better crack at these next week. I've seen Poundstone 1-arm snatching a 60 kilo bar for easy reps while warming up for a WSM monster dumbbell event a few years ago. I wouldn't mind being able to do that.

I've suddenly realised that I need to find something I can do to keep up my grip strength. Something that doesn't require me dangling a heavy-ass weight by my side. As I've mention, further displacement of my torn labrum would be a very bad thing. It's frustrating. I can't tell you how fucking frustrating it is.

And I have to note down the shoulder warmup, because when I stop noting the shoulder warmup I stop doing the shoulder warmup, coz I have the attention span of a tweaker after a bottle of dexies when I'm lifting.

Tomorrow night's 2nd weekly squat session is gong to be interesting...

Squat Monday: Day 1 of Rehab Training: More Volume Baby

Squats w/cambered
10 reps @ 30 kgs
8 reps @ 70 kgs
6 reps @ 110 kgs
3 reps @ 150 kgs
8 reps @ 170 kgs PR

Good mornings
10 reps @ 30 kgs
10 reps @ 50 kgs
10 reps @ 70 kgs
8 reps @ 90 kgs
8 reps @ 110 kgs

45 back raises
10 reps @ BW +24 kgs kettle bell
8 reps @ BW +32 kgs kettle bell

THE PLAN originally wasn't to top out at 170. The plan was to build up to 200 or 205 and go for 4... because I just refuse to go backwards in weight even though it's the smart thing to do. But last minute coaching advice saved me from another disappointing squat session.

My previous PR for reps @ 170 kilos was 5 - and that was August 27th, so less than 2 months ago now. Nine weeks exactly, in fact, but who's counting? I am. Tonight was first run for the heavy/light squat/GM routine, and it went pretty well.

Going to organise a referral to another surgeon tomorrow, for a second opinion. This is the guy who fixed Dan's detached pec and declared "It's not coming back out or I'll fix it for free" when he was done.

Back to training Wednesday. I'm keen to test this rack pull thingy out and improve my DB press.

Events Training Saturday: Half-Assin It

shoulder warmup

1 Arm DB press (strict)
5 reps @ 25 kgs
3 reps @ 35 kgs
2 reps @ 45 kgs - wasn't going to move more than this today

Sled drag
25 meters @ 100 kgs + Christian
25 meters @ 140 kgs + Ash & Christian (I think)

Pfft. Barely anything got done today, though the sled drags with people sitting on it proved to be entertaining... there's a video or two floating around. I will see if I can take it from Facebook and add here.*

Can't deadlift or farmers walk, even though it doesn't hurt to perform these, I'm risking further displacement and possible dislocation. Definitely can't do log or axle work, no stones... and I tried the yoke. Not smart. Unless there's a way I can walk with it while bracing with only one arm, it's out too. But I will be learning to rack pull with a piece of apparatus that allows me to do it hands-free, and I'll be going heavy on squats (twice a week at different weight and rep schemes)... the templates are pretty good already, but I may mix things up (take it easier some weeks) with leg press.

Yep. I'm gonna leg press now and then. Come at me.

*I took this vid of Lee pulling Ash. Later on, I believe Ash also pulled Lee. Normally they do their pulling in the change rooms, and don't like to be filmed.

Rehab Routine Templates - Draft 1

Squat, erm... Thursday

Squats w/cambered
8 reps @ 25 kgs
8 reps @ 65 kgs
8 reps @ 85 kgs
5 reps @ 105 kgs
3 reps @ 145 kgs
1 reps @ 185 kgs
2 reps @ 205 kgs - 1 less than my PR, and I prolly shouldn't have gone +200 tonight

Good mornings
8 reps @ 30 kgs
8 reps @ 70 kgs
5 reps @ 110 kgs
5 reps @ 140 kgs
5 reps @ 160 kgs PR

WELL, at least I can still squat. Yeah, I should have squatted Monday. Kinda went off the radar for a bit there, or almost did I should say. Man, all it takes is one. One, and a circumstantial loss of perspective can turn into many, and guaranteed failure. But that would just be weak bullshit, and it didn't happen. I drove past that liquor store like I do every day, and I kept driving like I do every day.

Interim training has begun, and I'll be spending the next few weeks before the surgery doing a limited collection of lifts and events, and generally feel like I'm half-doing shit. That's how it's gonna be for many months to come, so I might as well get used to it. Focus on what will be done in 2013.

Depending on what feels good this weekend I may be able to continue with Yoke... I have my reservations though. Last time I got under one, at the SMWA finals two weekends back, all it took was a walk with just the frame to aggravate it. And that was while trying a lower grip to take the strain off my shoulder... it also compromised how securely I could hold the bar on my back, and didn't seem to help overall. But all I can do is try. Shit, Dan says he's done yoke with one hand on it, after his pec tear. We will see if I can.

Truck pull will also be on the agenda... I'm not sure of a whole lot else. I'm pretty certain continuing to deadlift would just be stupid. That's maybe what's got me down most of all, as it's my favourite lift. But the up-shod of this lack of variety is that at least my squat is going to improve. I'll might even get it up to 250 kgs on the cambered bar during my recovery. That would be cool.

Goals for 2013

I'm already looking at where I want to be this time next year. I have no choice, really. But it's good to just get some perspective on things. At the end of the day, my aim is to do better than I did the year before. So I took the following scorecard from the Strongfit page ... only it isn't quite right.

The card is intended to be a compilation of each competitors best scores for each event over the 2 qualifying rounds, and this unfortunately doesn't show my 365 kgs Yoke walk from round 2, my 250 kgs Deadlift from round 1, or my 130 kgs p/hand Farmers walk, also from round 2.

I should mention, I'm not sure how exactly the point scores are arrived at. It may be that my time with the 115 p/hand Farmers, being 3 or 4 seconds faster than my time with the 130 p/hand, made it a higher scoring event... and it may also be the case that my 350 yoke run - which I completed - scored higher than my run at 365, which I didn't. But I'm sure a 250 dead beats a 240 dead.

So for next year, keeping in mind I will need 4-6 months recovery time, I want to do the following:
1. 400+ kgs Yoke - get under it and move for more than a few paces (and some tarmac would be nice)
2. 110 kgs Log
3. 300+ kgs Deadlift - expectations haven't changed here, since I've been making solid progress in spite of the injury for months
4. 150 kgs p/hand Farmers walk - pretty much in the bag.

Yeah, these aren't exactly lofty ambitions. But I don't know just how much this rehab is going to cost me.

Bad News Thursday: MRI Says No

I got up early for this?! To be rolled into an uncomfortable torpedo shape and jammed into a noisy doughnut for 20 minutes? The syringe full of ink they stuck in my shoulder first, that was fine. Even the gowns now have a new ass-covering feature I was quite glad of. But seriously now...

It was kinda like this, only I went head-first, with my left elbow pointing above my head, and the goal was to get me as good and wedged in there as possible... and leave me there. How the hell did Dan do this?! He tells me he's had an MRI and it was pretty uncomfortable. Considering his yoke is easily half a foot broader than mine, pretty impossible sounds more like it.

Getting past this claustrophobic episode, the MRI results fortunately took not long at all to produce. I was given the screens from the procedure, which are of no use to me or anyone really, I also got a disc which couldn't be helpful to anyone who didn't have the right kind of machine for reading them, or the right kind of software for understanding them. What I didn't get and couldn't have was the report; the piece of paper from the specialist which explains what the images on the screens and the data on the disc shows. That was sent to the Orthopaedic surgeon, and it took some loud discussion with the staff of the radiology clinic before someone with the necessary (basic) skill scanned a copy and emailed it to my Physiotherapist. Once that was done, I had my dilemma handed to me.

The report was as follows:
"1. Extensive superior labral tearing involving the entire superior labrum, the labrum mildly displaced with perilabral oedema.
2. Supraspinatus tendinopathy. Subacromial/subdeltoid bursal thickening and a bursal effusion."

This means I can't compete in ASM without risking further damage. It means I need surgery immediately, and it means I won't be able to train properly for several months, by which time I'll have lost a whole lot of upper body strength. My right arm will be in a sling for a while.

This means I'll be a spectator in Lismore, this year. I'll be there to assist, and see Dan and the rest of our team dominate their divisions. And I will be back, stronger than ever, in 2013.

Squat Tuesday: Pissweak Music for Pissweak Lifting

Squats w/cambered
10 reps @ 30 kgs
8 reps @ 70 kgs
6 reps @ 110 kgs
5 reps @ 150 kgs - messed up here, should have been 4
1 reps @ 190 kgs
3 reps @ 205 kgs PR

Good mornings w/cambered
10 reps @ 30 kgs
8 reps @ 70 kgs
6 reps @110 kgs
5 reps @ 140 kgs
4 reps @ 160 kgs PR

I opened with a shoulder warmup and finished with some light bench work, just trying to keep the upper body engaged. I managed to jar my left elbow on my last set of GMs, and experience has taught me that training on that injury just makes it worse... so I left the gym still with some energy and pretty pissed off. About a couple of things.

You see, at the Muscle Pit we have a culture. We help each other out to get charged up for a lift by playing music, loud. Mostly metal, but each guy has a particular track he wants played for his money set. It's a great atmosphere, and I've seen it produce some truly amazing feats in the year or so that I've been training there.

So some fat guy, who I see at the Pit maybe once a fiscal quarter, had his limp-dick acoustic love songs playing while he did forward raises with a 7 kilo dumbbell. I changed the music over to some Lamb of God as per the request of another SMWA member, and this guy gets in my face about it. He accuses me of being disrespectful to his round ass and demands I put his shit back on.

I walk out of the office and tell him he'll have to put his own shit back on, which he does, and spends the next several minutes with his little dumbbells, pretending to lift. Eventually he leaves, and I immediately follow him back to the office so I can put some decent music on the stereo, and he gives me another serve about 'respect' before taking off.

Look buddy - I don't know who you think you are, but I know who you are not. You're not a heavy lifter. You're not a committed lifter. You're not a member of Strongman WA. You don't represent the Muscle Pit, or Strongman WA, in national level competition. And your taste in training music is as pissweak as whatever you were doing with those dumbbells.

Respect is earned.

The W.A. Strongman Final: "Perth's Strongest Man" 2012

Saturday October 6th
There's not much I can write that will do justice to the enormity of this competition. Again, I've stolen a collection of pics taken by other people and for which I am very grateful, but we'll get to them later. I also have this:

For Australian readers, at least, this ^ should be a video from Channel Seven News Perth. They covered the event, but of course concentrated mainly on Dan the man, and he didn't fail to impress. In addition to the sponsorship generously provided by Muscleworx, Ron Mercer Transport donated a prime mover - with load - for an 18 tonne pull that went off without a hitch and proved a crowd favourite.

Some more crowd faves were watching Dan dominate in the Log clean-press and Deadlift. 315 kgs proved more than too heavy for myself and Dave. For Dan it was 4 easy reps. Maybe it was 5. Such a showoff, am I right?

I won't even bother recording my results for this one. I didn't make any progress on the few events I did do, except for truck pull. I hate half-doing comps. I've half-done 2 top-level competitions in 2 consecutive weekends, and I'm now headed over to compete in ASM... I don't want to half-do this one.

I mean, I'd really rather not... if it came down to a choice of either doing only half the events or not doing it at all... I'd still do half the events, and spend the second day in the stands watching the many strong as hell West Aussies who are flying over to compete. But I digress...

Here are some pictures of the 2012 SMWA Finals:

This was also the last opportunity for anyone in Western Australia to improve their overall points tally and earn a chance to compete in Australia's Strongest Man 2012. I was glad to see yet another SMWA member - one of our newest in the under 105 kgs division - get his chance, taking second place on the day.

I return to training Tuesday.

Big News

LAST NIGHT, while I was inhaling a T-bone, Dan kept frigging calling me until I answered my phone.
"Hello?" I said around a mouth full of steak.
"Hey man... you on Facebook?"
"No I'm fucking eating man! Why what's up?"
"Just get on Facebook", he said, "and call me back."

I'm glad I decided against finishing my steak. Bill Lyndon, the man behind virtually all of Australia's strength sports including Aussie Power, had just posted that one of the top competitors in the Heavyweight division had had to forfeit his place in this year's Australia's Strongest Man. And Bill was giving that place to me, as first reserve.

My world exploded.

Of course I have accepted his offer, and I'm thrilled to be part of it all. I couldn't say no to an opportunity like this... even in these circumstances. I've got an MRI next Thursday morning, and hopefully that will yield some conclusive diagnosis and plan of action for my recovery. As of this moment, my abilities are severely lacking in any area relating to overhead press.

Below is the chart of benchmarks for Strongmen in the Opens (weights are in Kgs):

As you can see, my skills are all over the place. If I can walk the yoke without it screwing with my shoulder, I can now confidently say I fit in the A grade, at 400 kgs (or 882 lbs). But my Log clean-press hasn't had a chance to progress since 2nd round of national qualifiers, where I pressed 100 kgs for the first time with a full sized Log.

My deadlift is technically A grade now, as of last weekend's Am Nats, but I'm quietly confidant I'll pull 275 kgs (606 lbs) very very soon, so I'll be sitting between A and Elite level 1. Nice. And, finally, I'm right in between E1 and A grade with my Farmers walk as of last weekend... and I reckon I'll be Elite level 1 as of this weekend, when I walk 150 p/hand in the SMWA 2012 finals.

That's right; I've decided to compete. Haven't trained this week, just eating and resting. I'm not putting any pressure on myself to over-exert, and I will be bowing out of the Log event for certain (130 kgs for reps is well and truly out of the realms of possibility for right now... and likely for the next year to come!) I'm just in it for the fun, really. And to challenge my own personal records.

And to be stronger. That's pretty much it. 

I will be entering the elite level of strength sports in this country, after about a year of training Strongman. With no real training or sporting background, no pedigree to speak of. This is something I'm still struggling to come to terms with.

The 2012 Australian Amateur Strongman Championships

The Dolphins Health Precinct in Redcliffe, Queensland played host to this year's weekend of games. A sprawling campus with huge indoor swimming facilities and plenty of wide open spaces for the bigger events. And considering one event involved two trucks chained together, space was exactly what we needed!

I met up with a couple of other WA competitors who were staying in the same hotel and we made our way there early, to get better acquainted with the apparatus and get the lay of the land, as it were. Most competitors had already beaten us to it - the football grounds were littered with men in black, running yokes and tossing kegs in the balmy morning air.

I had plenty of opportunity to meet all the competitors in the Opens weight class - and many in the other divisions - and came away from the games with a bunch of new comrades in iron. There were some truly, insanely strong guys and girls at this year's championships, including Marc Wells, Mike 'H-bomb' Vrljic and the one and only Warrick Brant - who is considered by many to be Australia's strongest man. Derek Boyer I dare say isn't one of them.

Dan Macri wasn't at this year's Am Nats, having already secured his placing in Australia's Strongest Man 2012 and also being responsible for organising and running the Strongman WA finals, to be held the following weekend (this saturday October 6th). So in his absence the heavyweight category had just me representing Western Australia. But the under 105 kgs division, under 90s, under 80s, and women's divisions all had west aussies in their ranks. They were all SMWA members or friends, who came into the sport fresh after participating in the 2nd round of National Qualifiers (held at Crossfit Armed, Port Kennedy). 

The events and weights for my division were as follows:

DAY 1

1. Yoke Walk: 405 kgs yoke walk for distance (40+ meters was allowable, and I believe Warrick walked it for 50!).

2. Keg Toss: 5 empty beer kegs, all the same weight, thrown over footy goal posts.

3. Dual Truck Pull: Some wild numbers have been given as to the weight of the trucks being pulled. I have it on good authority that the dual truck pull performed by the heavyweights consisted of two trucks, each weighing 8 tonnes. I originally had been told it was a 32 tonne truck pull...

4. Log Clean-Press: Rising bar, starting at 120 kgs.

5. Farmers Walk: Also rising bar, starting with 130 kgs p/hand.

DAY 2

1. Conan Walk / Tyre Flip Medley: 205 kgs yoke carried zercher fashion, followed by a 450 kgs tyre.

2. Overhead Press Medley: 70 kgs dumbbell, rising bar axle clean-press starting at 120 kgs.

3. Deadlift: Also rising bar, standard Olympic, on grass.

4. Atlas Stones: 5 stones, ranging in weight from 110 to 170 kgs and loaded on platforms of varying height, the tallest being around 5.5 feet.

I just wish I had more pictures. I've had to purloin other people's from Facebook, and hopefully there will be more coming along shortly.

I will use this space to post my own results, though the truly amazing performances were from the big names in the Opens, and those same two guys who I train with and met up prior to the comp took first and second places in the under 80s and under 105s. I was very proud of both of them, and all the WA guys and girls.

1. Yoke Walk: 

I moved it maybe 1 and a half meters, and my right shoulder got wrenched. Game over there. This was on grass, and it was awkward as hell. But considering I've not actually walked with more than 365 on my back before, this is nonetheless a new PR.

2. Keg Toss:

In hindsight this is a disappointment for me. I sat this event out, as I was worried about my injury. At the time I was weighing the pros and cons; It hurt to perform the motion, and I tried to toss a keg a couple of times. The second time I managed height but not arc, and I could feel it wearing at my tendon. Plus I hadn't trained for keg toss at all... so I concluded doing the event would jeopardise my chances later in the games. But those kegs were not heavy. I could have done it and come away with some more points at least.

3. Dual Truck Pull:

I was the front runner for at least the first few competitors, before some really heavy and powerful guys with the right knowledge and footwear to boot came and stole the show. But I was thankful to Scott Jones for providing some tutelage and reminding me what worked in training was going to work here too.  don't yet know the distance, but when I do I will advise. It was, however you slice it, one hell of a PR.

4. Log Clean-Press:

The one event I knew I definitely would not be able to do. Starting at 20 kilos over my personal best, this one I sat out too.

5. Farmers Walk:
This farmers walk was rising bar - something Iv'e never seen done in WSM, or heard of before in my short career. It was also based on completing the the 20 meter run with no drops, and time was not a factor. So I did the 130 p/hand at a comfortable pace and, after a brief rest, did the same again with 140 p/hand. Another PR. But there was no way I'd make a run with 150s after that. I saw too many people suffer palm tears in this event - more than were seen in SMWA's first round national qualifier Strength Quest, which had a large number of novices competing.

6. Conan Walk / Tyre Flip Medley:
This was a gruelling and very satisfying event for me. Again, I don't know the time and don't know when I will get a points and times breakdown, but I jogged with that 205 kgs yoke at a pace I've not managed in training, and the tyre was nearly 1.5 times as heavy as the heaviest I've flipped in training. I managed it just once, and my right thigh was stiff as a board for days after, from resting the tyre on it for what seemed like half an hour. Another couple of PRs.

7. Overhead Press Medley:
I had a strategy here. I just needed to press that 70 kg DB. But to do that proved too hard for me. I tried several times, cleaning it to position and wrenching my right arm in the process. I just didn't have the strength to push-press the thing - it wasn't stable, and I wasn't even able to move it a little. Not enough training in the DB push-press... and just not strong enough. But the most annoying thing is it exacerbated my injury even more, and afterwards I couldn't raise my arm above parallel without a deal of pain. Oh yeah. My strategy? If I made it past the DB I was gonna zercher clean the first axle into position and hope for the best. Heh. That shit probably was never gonna fly.

8. Deadlift:
My favourite event, and it sucked big time. Everything about this event I was not happy with. Deadlifting hundreds of kilos on an uneven grassy footy field was pretty poor. For our first National Qualifier 'Strength Quest' (which if you remember was held at the bottom of a sloping car park outside MuscleWorx Innaloo), Strongman Western Australia managed to provide not one but two platforms for the deadlift event. It was a less than ideal situation, certainly, but at least we had platforms we could position to make an even and hard, if not perfectly level surface. But this? This was well below my expectations. As the bar got heavier it sank further into the ground, and made training with heavy deficits an advantage. I've not performed a deficit before.

Add to this, we were using a standard Olympic barbell. Not a major issue, but I overthought things and opted to use straps, as I was concerned about grip strength with the thicker bar. I also double-overhanded the lift, and this cost me time while I struggled to lock out my 260 kilos opener. This was a PR, yeah, but well below what I wanted which is why I opened on it. On 270, I was too gassed to complete the lift... got it a few inches off the ground. Bombed. Pissed off. Didn't try for a third.

9. Atlas Stones:
Another event I couldn't do. The first stone was not a weight I would have had trouble with, ordinarily, but the first platform I had to load it on to was too high. It would have required my right arm to do things it could not at that point do. I sat by and watched some amazing feats from the other competitors, especially H-bomb and Warrick - who loaded all 5 in 18 seconds and 16 seconds respectively!!

That was last weekend. This weekend I plan to enter the WA finals and try to beat some of these PRs!