High Gear New Year

THERE IS no better high you can experience in life than waking after a week of training so hard that the DOMS has worked its way through your entire body, and is just now dissipating. My regular two hour training sessions have become three hour training sessions. Heavy strongman events are just things I do - not only on Saturdays - but every session, three times a week.

The first week of the new year I began my new programs for axle squats, deadlifts, farmers walk, and bench press. Log and axle clean-press, yoke walk and zercher carry are also written up and set to follow this weekend & next week. And no, I still do not have pics/vids: I'm too busy actually training and enjoying myself to give a shit. But it will happen when I do something really, really heavy in a few weeks. If there's one thing the people at my gym know how to do, it's work an iPhone camera.



As it is, I'm feeling the effects of the holiday season and the week I spent eating, drinking and being generally merry. As merry as the damned can be, I suppose. This new DL program began with 220 kilograms for three sets of ten, which I'm not sure but I think might be a personal record for total reps at that weight. I felt like I could have done a fourth set (which would have been dumb, on week one of the program), but then I'd have had insufficient energy for the rest of the session.

And I don't think I've done as many sets of farmer's walk at 110 p/hand as I did Tuesday night, after a bunch of axle squats. I seem to be responding positively to the increase in variety and intensity. With some enforced de-loads as recommended by under 80s (and sometimes under 90s) national strongman sensation Steve Wonderboy van Steytler, I'll be stronger than ever and primed for WASM's first qualifier for 2019.

My first training logs, from late March 2010. I found them during an annual cleanup, though they were never lost.
By the end of March this year I'll have been lifting for a total of nine years - one away from Wendler's vaunted 10 year benchmark. I have no choice but to make certain 2019 is a massive year

EVENTS+ PULL Thursday January 3rd
Deadlifts:
70 kg x 10
120 kg x 5
170 kg x 3
220 kg x 3 x 10 TPR... I think. Maybe a legit PR for reps at this weight
Zercher carry:
130 kg x 20 meters
190 kg x 20 meters
230 kg x 10 meters
Meadows rows (l&r):
50 kg x 3 x 8
Seated rows:
neutral narrow 114 kg x 3 x 10
underhand wide 86 kg x 3 x 10
Face-pulls:
64 kg x 3 x 20
DB side raises (p/h):
10 kg x 3 x 10



EVENTS+ PRESS Tuesday January 1st
Axle squats:
20 kg x 10
70 kg x 8
120 kg x 5
160 kg x 4 x 6
Farmers walk (p/h):
70 kg x 2 x 20 meters
110 kg x 8 x 20 meters PR
Bench press (paused):
20 kg x 5
60 kg x 5
90 kg x 8,7,6,5
Triceps pushdowns:
114 kg x 15,12,5
Chest press (p/h):
25 kg x 4 x 10
Standing BB curls:
22.5 kg x 3 x 10
DB front raises (p/h):
10 kg x 3 x 10