How long do these sessions take you? Are you doing one back accessory exercise per workout?

I'm going to start this once my linear gains are done and am currently debating between RIR or reps to failure. I might do RIR for squat/deadlift and reps to failure for bench and OHP.

Between 2 and 2.5 hours. I set a timer for 3:30 after each work set which helps keep me on track time wise. I superset the last pressing activity with a pulling one, and toss in some hammer curls on occasion.

ATS W8:



Solid week, though I was knackered by the end of it. Bumped up the trap bar max a lot, and repped out on tuesday all contributed. Happy with 12 reps at 100kg tng after all of the working sets.

Strongman Saturday

Atlas Stones:
100kgx3, bunch of singles as well. Tacky makes a massive difference.

Axle C&P/MDB medley:
80kg x2/43kg x2 - two sets, failed the second axle clean each time. Just really struggle with that part of it.

Away on holiday for a week and looking forward to it.

Alright, so the strongman comp my buddy has moved dates so I signed up too. Bad news is it is only in 5 weeks time. Luckily I weighed in this morning at 80.3kg, so I don't have to cut as well.

The events:

Farmer's Walk
95kg a hand, 40m with a turn.

Overhead Medley
50kg Monster DB, 95kg axle C&P, two reps of each.

Car Deadlift
Suzuki swift rumoured, so ??

Conan's Wheel
210kg for max distance

Prognosis:
Not good. Farmer's seems like it will be tough, and I can barely axle clean 80kg. Monster DB is ok I think. I'll either get the deadlift or I won't, and I can definitely pick up that weight on the conan's wheel so I won't zero there. Will be fun regardless.

Strongman Sunday:

Axle Clean and Press
Up to 80kg, but still struggling. vid 1, vid 2

Zercher Holds:
120kg x10s x4, x61s
Just learning to embrace the suck, a bit of practice breathing under load.

Odd object carry:
3 random heavy things with odd handles, a sled drag and a keg carry, 5 reps of the medley. Cardio is hard.

Finished off with back and biceps.

ATS2.0 W9:

Squat:
165x3x3, x5x1

Bench Press:
107.5x3x3, x9 (TnG for the AMRAP)

Axle C&P:
Practiced a bunch at 70kg, made a few technique adjustments, then slowly worked up to a few reps at 90kg. A decent PR.

Axle Push Press:
62.5x5x4

A good night, big improvements on the clean and press leave me feeling hopeful. Dropped everything else to 4 sets instead of 5, started a bit late and wanted to leave time for clean and press. Now just have to get the push jerk to catch up to the clean.

33 Days Until Comp

For me, taking a breath at the top the Zercher (squat in my case) gets very, very hard around 140 kg, with 120 kg being very hard. I think you'll gain a lot just learning to inhale under such loads.

Good luck at the meet!

Yeah man, we did some carries with a decent weight and the first time we exhaled we both noticed it was impossible to breathe back in! A weird sensation...

Thanks, buddy! It will be interesting in any case

What's the format of the competition? Lifts, weight classes, etc. Good luck with the preparation!

There's u80, u90, u105 and open.

Lifts are car deadlift, overhead medley, farmers walk and finishes with conan's wheel.

ATS2.0 W9

Deadlift:
190x3x4

Press:
62.5x3x4

Front Squat:
105x5x4

CGBP:
87.5x5x4

Also did some lat pulls and bicep curls. Still feeling a bit of DOMs after tuesday which made things a little tough.

Strongman Saturday

Car Deadlift Sim:
160kg x3 x4
Pull back, not up.

Farmer's Walk
85kg a hand x30m (with a turn) x 3
95kg a hand x1 (very sloppy turns today, need to crisp these up. Chin up, chest up.)

Axle PP:
Up to some reps at 90kg. Got to focus on making it more of a jerk I think will be the only way to get it in comp.

Finished off with biceps, triceps and lats.

ATS2.0 W10

Squat:
172.5x2x4

Bench Press:
117.5x2x3
117.5x5

Trap Bar:
160x4x4

Push Press:
67.5x4x4

Squats were very tough, disappointingly so. Happy with the bench press though, so there's that.

ATS2.0 W10

Deadlift:
200x2x3
200x5 (straps)

Press:
67,5x2x3
67.5x4

Axle C&P:
Worked up to two makes at 90kg and one at 95kg.

CGBP:
95x4x4

Chins:
BWx8x4

Decent training week all up, very happy to have made 5kg over the comp weight now. Just have to double 90kg and do the monster DB for a double at PR weight too! Comp run through tomorrow, so will be interesting to see how it all feels back to back.

Strongman Saturday

Farmer's Walk
95kg a hand in ~29s
Also did a couple of 20m lengths with 80kg a hand, practicing the turn.

OH Medley (90kg axle C&P, 50kg MDB)
Failed the 2nd push press, need to actually jerk it properly. Panicked. Monster DB felt good for a PR double.

Zercher Hold:
180kg for 34s
Tough.

Car Deadlift Sim:
160kg for 3x3

A fun tough 3 hour session. Stoked with the farmer's walk success and good to get some time on the deadlift and zercher holds. And I know I really need to focus on the jerk part of the overhead medley. 3 weeks out.

Impressive! Looking pretty, uh, yoked too. I'm assuming these are the events that are going to be in the competition? What's the rationale for doing the Zercher hold without shoes - CoG?

Nice dude. It looks like you dip pretty low for the push press. Is that normal?

Cheers, man! Variety of exercise is good for that I think.

Yes, this was as close to a comp run as we could get. With the zercher hold you have to actually carry it and walk, gym was too busy for that. Car deadlift weight is still TBC so we just try to get moderately heavy and try to figure out the pulling angle.

No rationale for no shoes, I did the warmups in my squat shoes which put a lot of tension in my hamstrings. I only realized it might be the shoes for the last max rep. I do the moving events in deadlift shoes usually, but couldn't be arsed for one rep.

Yeah, over dip for sure. Still a lot of figuring out push press and push jerk technique and confidence. It's tough remembering cues in a front rack position. Last week and midweek was a lot better.

Good stuff Aidan!

ATS2.0 W11

Squat:
157.5x4x4

Bench Press:
107.4x4x3
107.5x5

Trap Bar Deadlift:
160x6x4 (I think, not sure how much the GS trap bar is)

Axle Jerk:
80kg EMOM on the 10mins

Had to go a day early due to work commitments, so trained at GS. Good fun to bump into the crew and train, but was feeling a bit run down. Squats were quite hard, just used to squatting more frequently I think. Jerks were feeling better which is a good thing.

Thanks Rich!

Nice 3D pecs bro. Old 2D Aidan gone forever.

Cheers, buddy. Still mostly 2D, but I'll take it!

ATS2.0 W11

Deadlift:
182.5x4x3
182.5x6 (straps)

Press:
62.5x4x3
625x6

Axle C&P
Don't remember exactly, a couple of makes at 80 and some not makes at 90kg.

CGBP:
85x6x4

Also some chins superset in there.

Strongman Saturday

Zercher Carries:
200kg x 12m x 3
This was tough. Mid-back got absolutely fried. First hot training day of the year didn't help. I am glad this is third event of the day.

OH Medley:
Finally managed comp run on the second attempt, 2x axle C&P and 2x MDB. Great! Still technical inconsistencies, but I should be able to get it together on the day.

Famer's Walk
95kg a hand in ~34s. Sloppier on the turn, but ok given how much energy the zerchers took. Also took 105kg a hand for a short walk. Grip felt ok, legs and back were what was giving out,

So overall happy with how this last heavy session has gone! I think I can manage the technical events, and the conan's wheel and deadlift will just be heavy. A bit more technical work this week and then a deload.

Weight is hovering in and around 80.5kg, so as long as I'm not dumb I should make weight.

15 Days To Comp