Snowballing!

PTC Strongfolk. This isn't even half of us!

Snowballing is, I think, the most appropriate word to describe the last few weeks... and what's in store for PTC Strongman over the next few months.


After the Cup I spent a couple of days sitting around and found myself impatient to get back into training once more. The mind was more than willing... the flesh, however, was weak. Launching a new template - one that will set me up for Static Monsters and the GPC Push/Pull - I began with Press. I worked up to some strong, paused 5-rep sets of 110 kilos, then moved on to Log. And that was where the impact of the weekend's competition made itself apparent. My joints instantly hated the exercise, and my elbows had had enough after just two sets of 80. I had programmed three.

Too much? Nah!

I took a break to see if the pain would dissipate, but it did not. So the rest of the routine was scrapped. Even though I was feeling fresh and ready for more (which is a rare thing for me), I should still have taken the arbitrary week of down time. I decided to leave my Pull routine till the weekend.

Shaahni Carter has joined the crew, and this Saturday's clinic was her first session. The last few weeks, PTC Strongman membership has also snowballed. I now need more than two hands to count all our members! Coaching them has become my main concern during the few hours I have with them each Saturday, which is why I sporadically do my own training on Sundays now.

Full House: 3 stations inside & another outside, all working at once!

This clinic was another brilliant example of a bustling and well-oiled team preparing for their respective campaigns. Several of the crew are focussed on competing this year, and with such a smorgasbord of top strength events over the next few months, they have plenty of opportunities!

The final WASM qualifier for 2017 is in three weeks, The Static Monsters is Saturday October 28th, and the WASM state finals are pegged for mid-November. PTC Strongfolk will be entering all of them. Its certainly going to be a busy end of the year for me, but I love what I do. And Saturday was another reminder of why.

Mick is enjoying deadlifting; he's graduated to a regular barbell, and he's pulling from the floor. But his gait and grip were both too narrow, and so he looked pinched and uncomfortable in the hole. I asked him to take a wider, more natural stance and place his hands a little further apart. Watching him pull his next set - and seeing the smile come upon his face as he realised that that was exactly what was off - I find that profoundly satisfying. Mick went on to pull a triple of 150: a massive new personal record for the Behemoth.

There were many gutsy performances from the team that day. I caught a bunch of them on video, but I'm unable to upload the goddamn thing as my internet speed is currently woefully slow. I left it to upload overnight last night - all three minutes and something-seconds of it - and at about 90% complete, it timed out. So for now you'll just have to be satisfied with pictures.

PRESS Wednesday September 20th
stretch
Bench press (paused):
bar x 10
60 kgs x 5
90 kgs x 2
110 kgs x 4 x 5
Log clean-press:
45 kgs x 5
65 kgs x 5
80 kgs x 2 x 8

PULL+ Sunday September 24th
stretch
Deadlifts (barbell):
75 kgs x 10
125 kgs x 5
175 kgs x 3
225 kgs x 2
265 kgs x 3 x 4 TPR
Bent-over barbell rows (overhand):
115 kgs x 3 x 8
HS seated rows (p/h):
50 kgs x 3 x 10
Cable row machine (underhand):
full stack x 3 x 10
super-set w/DB side raises (p/h):
10 kgs x 3 x 10
Meadows rows (l&r):
40 kgs x 3 x 10
Super-set w/Face-pulls:
plate 10 x 3 x 20