The Inevitable Return of the Great White Dope

[El Exorcisto]

Morning weigh-in: 184

RE press

Strict barbell: 15@45, 12@95, 10@105, 8@115, 5@125, 3@135 (90%) - rep PRs

Dips: 3x10

   superset with

Bar chins: 8,7,5

 

Where the fuck did that come from? I just thought my 5 and triple were PRs but looking back a month it seems like the entire pyramid was PR after PR. Dips were a little rough after all the press volume but they got done. I faded fast on chins.

[matty_mcfly]

Looks like you press is getting much better

[El Exorcisto]

I just got the call from my new director. I'm giving notice today. Today is a good day.

[Disil]

Congrats man.

[matty_mcfly]

Press PRs, shorter commute, no ventilator kids, and slightly less workload?  Yea I would say its a good day

[AlexCold]

Congrats!

[El Exorcisto]

I spent all day yesterday working on the yoke then had a blow out with the wife so deadlifts weren't happening. I'll be getting to them tonight and sacrificing assistance day for the week. On a brighter note...

 

 

I need to wash some oil off and get a coat of paint on it but it's usable as is. It was a royal bitch getting holes drilled but I figured out a much quicker way on the last hole. It has the height set for me to yoke walk now. I'm going to get it set to 48" for Atlas stones and whatever height feels good for Zercher carries to train Hussafel and Conan's wheel. It weighs in at 115 naked.

 

My welds were fucking terrible on some of the earlier joints but I got back into the swing of things as it rolled on. I coped out all the ends instead of using angle or channel this time. It was more time consuming but it made for a much stronger and prettier finished product. Next up is a circus dumbbell in a couple weeks.

[El Exorcisto]

Since I had all the gear out I decided to permanently convert my Prowler frame into farmer's handles. My schedule is too packed as it is to be adding direct conditioning work and the farmers will have carry over.

 

 

As soon as my wife gets home I'm off to the hardware store for some paint.

[matty_mcfly]

I'm going to get it set to 48" for Atlas stones and whatever height feels good for Zercher carries to train Hussafel and Conan's wheel. It weighs in at 115 naked.

 

 

I like the idea of using the yoke for the husafell and conan's wheel training. 

[AlexCold]

Why no bracing on the yoke?

Sent from my Nexus 10 using Tapatalk

[El Exorcisto]

Why no bracing on the yoke?

Sent from my Nexus 10 using Tapatalk

There really isn't a place that needs it. The only places that has to deal with impact forces are the weight pegs and they don't have any real leverage.

[AlexCold]

I was just thinking the front feet might need it if they get caught but probably not.

Don't most competition yokes have the weights at the corners, thus having different dynamics? But I'm assuming your just planning to get used to walking with weight.

Sent from my Nexus 10 using Tapatalk

[El Exorcisto]

Both EliteFTS yokes are built with just two weight pegs. The women's yoke at my contest had 4 pegs but they were welded at 45s off the upright bracing.

[El Exorcisto]

Morning weigh-in: 182.2

ME squat

Front squat: singles at 245, 265, 275, 285 - PR

Snatch grip SLDL: 10 @ 165, 185, 205

Roll-out: 3x10

 

A 20 pound front squat PR was pretty damn nice today especially since I'm halfway through my cut. Since I was feeling strong and didn't feel like dicking around with a small bump on my SLDLs I pulled the change plates off and just put a pair of quarters on the bar with my red bumpers and got to it. My lats and hams are screaming. I really like getting stronger.

[AlexCold]

But I do notice the EFS one has bracing. The beauty of steel is that if it breaks you can always weld it back together. 

[El Exorcisto]

I didn't have enough plate laying around to make gussets so I just laid big fillets at those seams. Like you said, if it breaks I can just clean it up and put it back together.

[matty_mcfly]

This is your 2nd cycle, correct?

[El Exorcisto]

It's the last week of my first cycle since my contest.

[matty_mcfly]

Pretty sure you had a post about this week's ago but I'm far too lazy at the moment to look.

Are you making any drastic changes on the 2nd cycle? Adding anything? Dropping anything?

[El Exorcisto]

I'll be adding back in more fluff once I'm done cutting but it likely won't coincide with my next cycle. Now that I have a yoke and handles I'm going to be adding in event work, too. I'm shamelessly ripping off Chase Karnes periodization from his 531 for strongman article but adding in Zercher carries.

[El Exorcisto]

Morning weigh-in: 183

DE press

Axle C&P: 8x2 @ 130, switch grip

Dips: 10, 10, 15

   superset with

Bar chins: 8,7,5

 

   My wife talked to the organizer of my August contest and found out that the events will be the same as last year with a few insignificant tweaks, meaning the press will be a 170ish pound, 3" diameter axle cleaned once and pressed away for reps. It looks like I'll be dropping the viper press on assistance day and going back to the axle. Since it'll be a 3" (wtf!) axle, I need to learn to continental with a switch grip. I've been using DOH this whole time since grip hasn't even approached being an issue. My switch grip continental is slow and ugly so it's going to need some serious attention. My jerks were inconsistent with bar path and speed, too. It seems like I can pick the log right back up where I left off but my axle technique falls off quick when I don't do it very often.

 

Here's the rundown for the contest.

 

   I'm still going to do yoke and farmer's on events day but the Zercher walks are going to be the focus since they should have a lot of carry over to all the odd objects, Hussafel, and the Conan's wheel. I'm going to modify my farmer's handles to use 2" ID skids so I can pin some 1 1/2" pipes between the skids and have a frame/trap bar for training the frame deadlift. I'm accepting up front that the 320 pound stone is likely staying on the ground but I could already load my 240 last fall. I just need to groove technique and get faster. The arm-over-arm drag will be the wildcard since there's no way I can train it directly but my grip hasn't been a weakness in anything so far. I'll probably swap out ring chins for Kroc rows on assistance day just to shore that up though. There's a big tractor yard 10 minutes down the road. It looks like I'll be stopping there on my free week to pick up a tire or two to flip.

[matty_mcfly]

8 events?  Shit that's a long day.  I seem to be the opposite of you, I seemingly can pick up my continental cleans after 3 weeks or so and everything still work properly.  The log however...shit gets shaky.

 

I had my DE press day today as well, granted with 25lbs less than you, but I have found that chalking my shirt helps tremendously and I've been working on bringing my under hand over the top right as I get it to my stomach.

 

What's the heaviest you've gone on these so far?

[El Exorcisto]

Today was the first time doing switch grip but I've hit a single at 160 in the gym and at my contest DOH. I like to leave the handy tricks like chalk on the shirt for contest day. I like training to struggle with fuck ups in the gym so they're less of an issue at a contest. Since the press is pretty deep into the day I'm sure I won't be hitting shit perfectly.

[matty_mcfly]

160?  Why the DE work at 80% of that max?

[El Exorcisto]

Because I can still move 130 at exit velocity.