TRAINING LOG: Matt Cox

Capital Classic Strongman Challenge March 26, 2011-
Novice Division

Somehow first in the line-up for everything with
absolutely no clue what to do...

Log Press - 190lbs (about my bodyweight), scratched. A
bad C&P during warm-up put my left shoulder in hell from
the get-go but luckily it calmed down at least enough
that the cleans came easy. I'll admit I was still anxious
at this point, lost focus and couldn't get any damn hip
drive. I kept tensing up to keep control at the top and
just completely lost myself. Incredibly harder than a
barbell.

Conan's Wheel - 450lbs, 1 rotation. I had no clue what I
was doing but collared the 400 easy so I didn't think 450
would be bad. That extra fifty got away from me fast and
3/4 through I was almost losing it. I had nothing left in
my lungs and couldn't draw air. Also next time I know to
set the bar lower so I can get some leverage. I honestly
didn't know better and felt like I screwed myself out of
a great run.

Mini Cooper Deadlift - 5 reps! I lost my grip and then my
focus between 4 and 5, and Kristen accidentally stopped
recording for a few seconds thinking I was out of it. I
really would have been if not for the crowd yelling for
another and 5 felt amazing. I could feel my shoes
flattening into the platform (a theme for the day) and
felt every muscle in my entire body working... including
some epic gag reflex at the top of each rep.

Frame Carry - 475 lbs for 49 feet. I honestly didn't even
think I'd get it off the ground before warming up so I
was happy just to stumble a few feet here and there with
it when the time came. Definitely need to practice moving
events and breathing under load because I gassed out way
too soon, took too long and wide of steps, and was all
over the place.

Chain/Sled Drag and Tire Flip Medley - ~450 chain with a
150 sled for 50 feet, ~500 tire for 3 flips. I had to
borrow my dad's sneakers for this because my shoes had
zero traction and I still ended up on my ass. I felt like
I was on the ground forever even though the video looks
like I sprang right up. The tire was hard on my lungs
especially after the chain but actually felt smooth.
Pretty good for my first time ever doing a drag or
flipping a tire if I do say so myself and I honestly wish
Barry stuck with 5 flips just to see if I could do it in
time.

Atlas Stones - 170, 216 (failed x 3). 170 was cake but I
just couldn't get the right hand placement on the 216 to
get it to a height over the lip. I only had the tiniest
bit of tacky on my fingertips so I feel really good about
it even though I didn't do great. Next time I'll smear
that stuff all over like the other guys instead of kill
myself trying to grip. For never touching a stone and
learning form from youtube, I don't think I did too
poorly.

This competition was probably the best thing I've ever
experienced in the realm of strength. This was my first
time ever even using Strongman implements and I didn't
have any expectation to pull off what I had. The weights
were way higher than what I was expecting from the
registration form so I was in my glory just for having
not scratched every lift. I also wasn't expecting 8 hours
of on and off doom lifts. Overall it was an absolutely
great time, a ton of fun, and I'm definitely looking
forward to the next one where I'll hopefully use what I
learned here to do even better. The crowd was great, the
competitors were great and helped me a ton with tips,
hints, and encouragement throughout the day.
__________________

Lower body day

Deadlift
315 x 2 x 10
375 x 10
405 x 3
455 x fail hard 3x

Squat
135 x 20
185 x 2 x 10

Leg Sled
200 x 3 x 20

Hoping my 56# gets here in the mail tomorrow so I can get
some throwing in over the weekend

WFD
I just can't seem to get both the release and the spin
down simultaneously. I either get one or the other every
throw and it still goes about the same distance (maybe 20
feet which is awful). My hook grip felt more solid today
so I guess that's an improvement, but I really need to
get the technique down if I want to have a shot at a good
distance. If I get the spin down, I almost release
directly into the ground. If I concentrate on the
release and get near that 45 degree angle, I end up with
a hip toss.

Open Stone / Braemer
Got lucky and found some better rocks. Still can throw
equally far/further both standing and gliding (now well
over 30 feet each throw). Again technique is the target
for my next session out.

Natural Stone Toss
Still using the ~100 lb'r and almost doubled my
throwing distance (now somewhere between 10 and 12 feet
easily). Also sporting the worst run up delivery
possible: 3 of the most fragile steps known to man before
essentially doing a standing toss.

Stone over Bar
I'm no where near ready to toss the WOB yet with
technique or strength, so I did some grip/shoulder work
with my open stone doing backward OH tosses. Was hitting
an easy ~25 feet with the right and ~20 feet with the
left (measured up one of the trees we wedged the branch
between with some skillful white trash team climbing
techniques). I'm hoping to start my next throwing day
with WOB and see how a fresh shoulder tosses it. If I
could hit 15 feet with a 55lb kettlebell last summer, I
should be able to at least get 10 with the ring weight
now that I'm up nearly 30 lbs and a ton of strength.

Gym lifting...

Barbell Snatch ladder: bar to 135 3x5
Barbell Split Jerk ladder: 135 to 185 2x3
Barbell OHP ladder: 185 to 205 5x2
Kettlebell 2-to-1 swings: 20s @ 55
Core supersets
Chest Fly triples: 160 180 200 220, 210 230 250(f) 230,
180 160 140
Tabata Chest Fly: 4 sets @ 100, 2 sets @ 50
Tabata Push-Up: Died after 1 set

Maybe throwing later

Edit:
Did some WOB and WFD that felt much more natural than the
last few times I went out. I also pulled off 2 picks
with the overweight caber but lost balance on standing.
I'm really hoping to get the flip by next weekend.

Back to real training...

Bent Over Row 3x5 @ 225
Pull Ups 2x10
Rack Chins 2x10
Close Grip Bench Press 4x3 @ 225, 245, 265, 285
Dips 2x10
Thick Barbell Push Press (from rack) 3x3 @ 185, 195, 205
Single-Arm DB Clean & Push Press 3x3 @ 80(L/R), 100(R),
110(R)
Left shoulder’s still a little loose but no pain
EZ Bar Curls 3x6 @ 90, 100, 100
EZ Bar Skullcrushers 3x10 @ 100

Back/Shoulders...

Bent-Over Row 6x3 @ 225 x 3, 245 x 2, 265
L Chin-Ups 3 x 8
Seated Cable Row 3 x 12 @ 150, 180, 180
DB Rows 2 x 12 @ 100, 120
Close Grip Pulldowns 2 x 20 @ 150, 180
Hammerstrength OHP 3 x 8 @ 160, 180 x 2
DB Lateral Fly 2 x 20 @ 15, 20

Trying to get outside my comfort zone by killing what I
feel I'm weak at. I resisted the urge to do barbell OHPs
like always and tried heavy hammerstrength which actually
felt really good on the bad shoulder.

Barbell Bench Press 6 x 3 @ 225, 245, 265, 285, 275, 225
Hammerstrength Incline Press 3 x 12 @ 180
Hammerstrength Chest Press 3 x 12 @ 270
Incline Cable Flys 2 x 15 @ 30s
Cambered Bar Preachers 3 x 8 @ 85
DB Concentration Curls 2 x 15 @ 25
Spider Curls 2x20 @ 45
Skull Crusher 3 x 8 @ 90 x 2, 70
Cable Extension 2 x 12 @ 80, 90
Cable Kickbacks 2 x 15 @ 40
My biceps are weak and small (relative to my triceps). I
avoided working them for a long time because I figured
they got enough from my back work and I had no
aspirations of bodybuilding. Neglect clearly took its
toll.