STRONGMAN COMPETITION WRITE-UP: TRIALS OF HERACLES MEN'S OPEN MASTERS

 

Summary: Came in 2nd place, which was also last place. But it came down to 5 seconds in the final event, as up until then we were tied with 2 first plans wins. The dude I was against also weighed twice as much as me, so that’s something.

Biggest wins were not getting injured, not blacking out, and having the best showing in my press in a LONG time, going the full minute and not missing a single rep to get 9 in the round. I didn’t zero a single event, which is the first in quite a few recent competitions. In general, feeling like my old self again.

THE TRAINING

I mean, it IS Tactical Barbell...

 

I have been using Tactical Barbell since Sep of 2024 and that has not stopped.  It really fits well for strongman, at least as far as I need it.

 

I employed Operator from TB1.  My cluster was Safety Squat Bar front squat and Axle Strict Press from rack.  I would do unweighted chins (various grips) as part of my warm-up and in between sets of my main lifts.

 

Monday and Friday, I’d perform 5 sets of 5 for the cluster.  On Wednesdays, I’d perform 3x5, and use this day to train deadlifts.  Instead of TB’s prescription for deadlifts, I stuck with ROM progression, as that just always works for me.  I used a 6 week cycle with 425lbs on a Texas Deadlift Bar, getting 19 reps at the start of the cycle and finishing with 14 reps from the floor.  Unlike previous ROM progression cycles, I did not do any rest pause reps: sticking with just 1 topset.  This was primarily because, in the first 2 weeks, every time I’d try a rest pause, I’d end up hurting something in my left hip that would take about 6 days to heal.  With a competition being the goal, I needed to be healthy enough to train until the event, so I played it safe.  This COULD be why I saw such a reduction in reps from start to finish, but I was also dropping bodyweight along the way (to be discussed in the nutrition section).

 

On Mondays and Fridays, after the main cluster, I’d train 3 rounds of a sandbag carry medley, using a 150lb Rogue sandbag.  I ran this in my basement, with no distance measured, but each round was 2-3 trips with the bag, with a focus of running back to the start and back to the bag to get in some fast feet time.  I’d finish up with some GHR sit ups and lateral raises if I had time.  On Wednesdays, I’d do some easy assistance work of curls, extensions, reverse hyper and ab wheel.

 

Daily, I would hang for time from my chinning bar with fat gripz attached.  This was to prep for the Heracles Hold.

 

For conditioning, I’d do a 90 minute treadmill ruck on Thursdays, some sort of HIC workout for 15-20 minutes on Tuesdays, and the Crossfit “Grace” WOD with an Axle on Saturdays, the goal there to improve my clean and push press with the axle, along with my conditioning.  I also trained martial arts (Tang Soo Do) 3x a week, and made it a goal to get in a walk on my lunch break as often as possible, and a long one on Sundays.

 

NUTRITION

 

Yeah that about sums it up

Since I was competing open, I had no weight class to make.  That said, I had finished 15 weeks of gaining leading up to this, to include coming back from a holiday Disney Cruise, and Operator doesn’t have the same nutritional demands, so I used this as an opportunity to lean out before another gaining phase.

 

I’ve written about the protocol I employed (titled “Red Meat and Black Coffee”), but a quick summary was that, on my lifting days, I’d eat 2 meals a day of meat (13-16oz) and eggs (3 whole and 5 whites), and a protein feeding before bed (170g of full fat Greek yogurt with a scoop of protein powder).  On Tues and Thurs, I’d fast until the evening meal, allowing myself black coffee until then, and still have the protein feeding.  Weekends were a bit more ad hoc: sometimes 2 meals, sometimes 1.  And on Sunday, I’d have a family meal, which abided by none of the previous meal structures, and was just something we all enjoyed, made at home, which included carbs and some sort of dessert.  The result was starting the cycle at 89.1kg and ending with weigh ins between 81-82.5kg, all while my lifts and performance increased the entire time.  I really feel like I found something solid here.

 

* I also made it a point to specifically eat lamb and Greek yogurt for 3 days leading up to the comp, and gyro meat/Mediterranean chicken as my post comp victory meal, just to stick with the Hearcles theme.

 

 

THE COMPETITION

We were both old enough to appreciate this reference

Events were:

Event 1: Frame deadlift

Went 455, 505, 555. Winner won with 605.

• I took 1 warm up with the empty frame, then one with 315 and felt dizzy on the second one. Every single one of these pulls felt heavy, but not insurmountable. I’d dig deep, break it off the floor, and feel it come to lockout. Everyone said they were impressed, probably because I made it look so hard. Felt strong, and I may have had a 600lb pull in me today. We both took 505 for a second, and I took my third at 555, not knowing what his intent was, but judging by the size of him, I wasn’t shocked.

Event 2: 185lb axle clean once and press away

I got 9 reps to beat the other guy’s 4.

• I went first, having no idea what the number would be to beat, so I just sent it. The continental was the strongest I’ve had in a long time, with no real wasted energy. I got myself set and felt pretty solid with each rep. In an ideal world, I would have cycled the bar each rep, but instead I settled in and got myself strong. On the latter reps, I had some good back bend, but I never missed a rep. I didn’t get near as much leg drive as I could have, but my knees felt happy with this.

Event 3: Carry medley (225lb sandbag, an engine block and 150lb iron cross)

Got it done in 55 seconds, to the winner’s 33.

• When I signed up for the comp, the sandbag was 150lbs. At some point, it got changed to 225lbs. I still trained with a 150lb bag the entire training cycle, and since this is a speed event rather than a conditioning one, I made peace that I wasn’t going to win it, and just wanted to get a completion. I have NOT been able to load ANYTHING for my previous few competitions, and getting the sandbag to the platform and having it miss the first time, I felt pretty pissed. I lapped it and got a REAL solid triple extension on it, found a spot on it and approached the engine block. I didn’t bother to practice on it during the warm-ups to figure out the handholds on it, so it was just raw when I got to it. It was less heavy and more awkward, but I got it carried, lapped and loaded. The Iron Cross was the end, and it wobbled my knees a little, but was otherwise just solid.
• Bit of comedy: they said we could request the implements to be set up any way we liked. I said “Yeah, can you turn the handles on the iron cross, get the engine block sideways, and then can you move the sandbag closer to the start?” They were like “Well no, we can’t move the sandbag because…hey waitaminute, you’ve done this before haven’t you!” Always one with a joke.

Event 4: 35lb hammer hold

Held for 1:07, to the other guy’s 38 seconds.

• I’ve never lost this event in a competition, and that continued today. It’s just pain tolerance. I was shaking like a leaf, short breaths, tense guts. Pleased to have some thoroughly dominated it.
• Just a little strongman hack here: I wore elbow sleeves NOT to have elbow support, but to disguise the bend in my arms.  Holding the hammer with straight arms is much harder than with a small bend.  Use every tool in your toolbox.

Event 5: Heracles hold (155lb per hand)

Held on for 1:44, to the other guy’s 1:49

• This was the sole reason I signed up for this event. I’ve ALWAYS wanted to do this. We had 2” thick revolving handles on this, but all my timed holds on Fat Gripz paid off, because I felt REALLY solid on this. Biggest issue was simply not knowing what time I had to beat, as I went first. I do wonder if I could have held on even longer if I had a time to beat. But I felt strong and solid.

First competition in a LONG time where I walked away without regrets.

 

WAY FORWARD

 

We all know where this is going

I have no competitions on the immediate horizon, strongman, grappling or otherwise, minus a 10 mile race in mid April that I do every year.  I have another cruise coming up at the end of May, giving me 13.5 weeks of training.  I plan to do a 6 week run of Grey Man, 3 weeks of Specificity Bravo, and then I may do a 3 week run of Operator Pro if I’m feeling it, or otherwise just 3 weeks of traditional Operator.  From there, it will be summer, a great time to be active and lean out, so I may end up doing 2 full 6 week Operator Cycles and evaluate from there.  I specifically slot out the end of October (my birthday) through the New Year for Mass Protocol, since it’s a time of feasting with Thanksgiving and Christmas.  But, of course, Chaos is the plan, and something shiny may come my way and derail the whole thing.  But as it stands, still living Tactical Barbell, still zero need to change.