Atlas Stone Lifting

20-inch Diameter Stones weighing in the 320-530lb Range

Want to Learn to Lift Atlas Stones?
Check Out This DVD:
Stone Lifting Fundamentals DVD

Man what an awesome time last week, DIESELS.

As you know, on Thursday, I help the Basics of Grip and Strongmanism seminar.

Here’s a pic, with Dr. Jim Wagner on the left, me, and Chris Fritz on the right.

I got this message posted on my wall on Facebook, after the event:

“I got to spend the day at a seminar with the grip legend himself,
Jedd Johnson. I learned more in 5 hours than I did in the last
five years. It was an awesome day and Jedd is one of the nicest
guys you could meet! I’ll be seeing you again Brother, hopefully
at the next contest!”
Chris Fritz

Here’s how the day’s content rolled out:

9:00AM Start, meet and greet

Warm-up
General to specific
– General Full Body: Mobility / Activation / Light Stretching
– Move to Weights
– Move to Specific
Magic Formula for Success

Grippers
Technique
– Placement
– Gripper Angle
– Wrist Angle
– Tension
– Set to Close
– Skin Stretch
– Hit
– Thumb Strike
– Roll the Dice
High Impact Drills
Other Considerations

Pinching
Technique
Chalking Considerations
Plate Pinching
Block Weights
Odd Objects
Euro Pinch
High Impact Drills

Thick Bar and other Open Hand Training
What is Open Hand Training? Is Thick Bar “Support Grip”
Support Specificity
Technique
High Impact Drills

Intro to Feats
Tension
Beginner Conditioning

Card Tearing

Steel Bending

Programming
Individual Based
Setting up YOUR Program
Formulating Workouts – Think Energy Economy
Specificity of Grip Training

Injury Prevention & Recovery Methods

2:00 / 2:30PM Close

Man, I’ll tell you what, I absolutely love talking GRIP with people.

As an added bonus, before we called it a day, Dr. Jim Wagner got out his Hawk Grips, a special set of soft tissue massaging devices, and worked on us a little bit.

We got EVERYTHING on film, and I’ve already begun editing the footage, and will be making it available on DVD.

If you want to be the first to add this information to your library, add your information to the box below:

It will be ready as absolutely fast as I can get through all 5 hours!

In the meantime, Make it a Great Week.

All the best in your training.

Jedd

P.S. Sign up for notification as soon as this seminar becomes available.

To me, the greatest thing about lifting weights is the never ending ways to challenge yourself.

Just when you accomplish one goal, there’s any number of other things you can do to make yourself better.

In the Fall of 2014, I pushed myself to the limit with 20-Rep Squats.

I wanted to see how far I could go.

I started with 225-lbs, and over the course of about 10 weeks, I worked my way to 355-lbs. I only got 16 reps with that, however, as on my last rep I strained a hamstring/groin muscle.

But I had no regrets. Sometimes an injury happens when you’re trying to see what you limits truly are.

After a couple months of rehab, recovery, and rebuilding, I decided I was ready for another round of 20-Rep Squats, only this time i was gonna do it a little different.

Instead, this time, the goal would be to hit 20-reps of Goblet Squats with the Inch Dumbbell.

Here’s my best effort to date in max reps: 13 with the 176-lb Inch Dumbbell on loan from John Eaton:

Goblet Squats are a great exercise. While they are usually used as a precursor to Back Squatting by using lighter weights, they can also be used for heavy training as well. On top of using the Inch Dumbbell for Goblet Squats, I was also using the 200-lb Kettlebell for Goblet Squats for a time this year as well. You can see some videos of that here => 200-lb Kettlebell Goblet Squats.

What’s interesting about Heavy Goblet Squatting, especially with a circus-style dumbbell such as the Inch Dumbbell, is that a part of the bell lies on your stomach.

So, not only is breathing difficult due to the dumbbell being held at chest height, you’ve also got the additional challenge of breathing through the belly against the lower portion of the dumbbell at the same time.

I liken this challenge to performing multiple repetitions of Atlas Stone lifting. The difference is, you never drop the stone to re-grip or load it atop a platform. Instead, it’s like you just keep going from the lap to the chest-load position.

Stone Lifting Technique: The Chest-Load

Above, Steve Slater lifts a stone to the chest-load position. Going from lap to chest-load like this feels VERY similar to Inch Dumbbell Goblet Squats.

It makes for an awesome physical challenge, and that’s what it’s all about, for me, when it comes to strength training.

I’ll keep you updated on the 20-Rep Inch Dumbbell Goblet Squat Saga.

Speaking of the Inch Dumbbell, next week, I will be shooting a DVD on that very subject. If you’re training to lift the Inch Dumbbell, make sure you sign up for updates about it using the form below.

Lift the Inch Dumbbell – Sign up Below:

All the best in your training.

Jedd

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Are You Training to Lift the Inch Dumbbell? This DVD Will Help You:

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On August 24, 2014, I did a Strongman Show as part of the Mason’s Hope SuperHero 5K, a fundraiser for Mason Barto, a little boy with CDG (Congenital Disorders of Glycosylation).

Here is a short news video that talks about Mason’s story.

It was my pleasure to be a part of such an awesome cause. I was hoping to have Mason stand on my chest while I performed the Bend of Nails, but in the days leading up to the event Mason was visiting more specialists and ended up having to stay there longer than planned.

I look forward to meeting you, buddy!

On top of the great cause, I was particularly excited about being able to put on this show, because my parents, my grandmother, my wife and my daughter were all there. You see, I rarely do a local show – most of my stuff takes place in other states, so none of them have ever watched me perform live.

Below is the show I put together.

Watch each feat separately:

Frying Pan
Horseshoe
Cards
Phone Book
Kid Lift
Anvil and Blob
Bed of Nails
Wrench Bend
Hammer Bend
Hot Water Bottle

If you’ve ever wanted to do feats of strength like bending a wrench, a horseshoe, a hammer, or rolling a frying pan, this DVD can show you how to do it.

Braced Bending DVD

Make it a Great Day!

Jedd

P.S. During the show, I pulled off a feat I have never been able to complete, if memory serves. I lifted a 55-lb anvil by the tail and then picked up a 50-lb Blob and curled it. It was quite a rush to do it during the show, although most of the audience probably had no idea how hard it was, ha ha ha.

If you are working on Lifting the Blob, here is the best resource for you:

Strongman Training For Powerlifters

by Ian Driscoll

Coming from a powerlifting background and previous to that, a kid who just wanted to get bigger and stronger for high school sports, strongman training has proved to be the most effective and fun training that I have ever done.

Strongman training is hard, damn hard. However, the benefits are hard to ignore whether your goal is to add slabs of muscle mass, becoming a more explosive athlete or simply put pounds on your gym lifts.

Getting Started in Strongman Training

First I’ll start off with a little bit of personal history. My first year of college, I was a hungry 18 year old powerlifter looking to up my game. I had always enjoyed strongman competitions on TV and decided I was going to give it a shot.

I drove two and a half hours to a garage gym known as Jobe’s Steel Jungle every weekend. There I had the opportunity to experience what “Strongman Sunday’s” were all about. Log presses, axle presses, deadlifts (of all varieties), keg loading, stone loading, yoke walks, farmers walks, sandbag carries, and sled pulls are a list in a vague memory of what I have done there.

On these weekends I only did three or four strongman events and I was left exhausted. The two and a half hour drive back was always euphoric. My t-shirt was stained with sweat, tacky, and chalk but the recent memory of strongman training was all that was on my mind.

My Improvement in the Powerlifts from Strongman Training

This weekly strongman training carried over to my powerlifting in a noticeable way. I used to have trouble stabilizing my body under 405 pounds in a squat. I would look like a baby giraffe coming out of the womb. Heavy yoke walks took care of that problem. The yoke walks taught me how to create tension and brace my body. Instead of having a coach tell me abstractly how to create tension and brace the trunk, I threw myself under a heavy yoke, kept my body as upright as possible and I learned exceptionally quick what bracing and creating tension feels like.

I used to have problems double overhand deadlifting anything over 315 pounds. Farmers walks took care of that, something about walking with 260 pounds in each hand for 100 feet will cure most grip problems. My deadlift and squat were suffering from the inability of pushing the hips through. I loaded a stone 20 times in a row, you have no choice but to learn how to use the hips.

Enough about my personal experience; here’s how strongman training can benefit you:

Benefits of Strongman Training

Loaded Triple Extension:
Triple extension is simply the simultaneous extension of the ankles, knees, and hips. Classic barbell lifts such as the squat, deadlift, and power clean demonstrate this.

With strongman implements, one can take it a bit further. Loading an atlas stone to a relatively high platform trying not to let the stone break one’s spine in half or flipping a heavy tractor tire will have one go from a deep squat position through to the tippy toes. With these implements being odd objects, the awkwardness is a nice change of pace and the technique is not as comprehensive as a barbell lift.

There is something primal about flipping an 800 pound tire or loading a 300 pound stone. For powerlifters, we don’t need to go extremely heavy with strongman implements. Just getting out of the gym and doing something exciting that provokes hard work is beneficial. We can argue all day about what is optimal or what’s best for triple extension and to be honest I see a lot more carryover from strongman based triple extension movements to the gym than what the gym brings to strongman.

Bracing the trunk:
In order to walk with 600 pounds in the hands, 800 pounds on the back, or load something over 300 pounds to a platform it is critical to brace the trunk. It is impossible to do any of these disciplines efficiently without bracing effectively. Yes, one can learn how to brace the trunk very well in a squat, bench press, or deadlift but walking with the weights one can deadlift or squat takes the bracing concept to a whole new level and makes them more efficient when they go back to traditional squatting, bench pressing or deadlifting.

Grip strength:
Bearhug walking with a heavy keg, farmers walks or doing some axle deadlifts will develop that manly handshake and improve upon the ability to lift heavier weights. It is called the law of irradiation, the harder an individual can squeeze something, the more efficiently the chain of muscles can be utilized. Nothing fancy here, just hard, grueling work.

Explosiveness:
Along with loaded triple extension, and bracing the trunk that aid in explosiveness, strongman events are supposed to be done fast. Things are timed in strongman, we need to be as efficient as possible. A classic example of developing explosiveness would be tire flips as fast as possible for 50 feet or cleaning a heavy axle up to the shoulders. Personally, there is a direct correlation to the speed of my power lifts when I add in strongman training.

Mental strength:
What makes strongman appealing to me is the amount of mental strength it takes to endure the events. There have been a couple times I literally thought that I was going to die. Everyone wants to set down a heavy yoke, drop the farmers when their shoulders feel like their being pulled out of socket, let go of an atlas stone when it rips into their forearm, grind through a 15th rep on a deadlift for reps or drop the log when it is crushing their lungs. The intense commitment and desire to plow through these mental barriers is, to me, invaluable.

Sign Up for Updates Whenever New Strongman Training Info is Posted

How to add strongman events to a powerlifting routine?

There are many ways to go about doing this. Here are a couple of examples…

Full Strongman Day:
I suggest replacing a gym day for an event day if one is lucky enough to have access to the implements. For example, you can get your main powerlifting work done during the week, and then do your Strongman Training on Saturday or Sunday.

Strongman Lifts as Accessory Movements:
Another way to add Strongman Training is by using strongman events in place of other accessory movements. For example, after deadlift training one could hit five sets of five on tire flips, instead of straight leg deads. Another example would be an axle clean and press for three sets of five after bench training. An additional example could be three sets of 50 feet on yoke walks after squatting.

The options are limitless, but one must be smart about it. Strongman training has a funny way of leaving the body in a pile of ash if one gets carried away. One event day consisting of three events or substituting a main accessory for a similar strongman event.

Wrapping it Up

In summary, strongman training is great. On the other hand, it is not the end all be all of training. A lot of elite level powerlifters have never touched strongman equipment. For strength athletes, strongmen included, the classic barbell lifts are going to be the priority of a training system. My thoughts and ideas are to give you a few tools you can try out on your own and see if they aid in your strength sport. There is a time and a place for several tools, I am under the impression strongman training is one of those under-utilized tools that has a great carryover to the powerlifts.

-Ian Driscoll-

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New Strongman Trainees: Get Your Technique Right with out DVD,
Introduction to Strongman Training. It covers everything you need to know
to perform the most common and beneficial events the right way.
Click the banner below or go to this link => Strongman Training DVD

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I recently attended a seminar with several other fitness guys, many of whom were personal trainers and strength coaches. After one of the talks, it was time to get some coffee and one of the personal trainers, Lance, came over and talked to me.

He told me that he trains in some major chain gym with a bunch of machines and not a speck of chalk in the place at all. (If I had to train in a place like that, I might last two weeks before I went to another gym, just not my kind of long-term place)

So, as it turns out, Lance is sick of this place too. He said he just doesn’t think all the machines are helping him or his clients build “Real World Strength.”

He basically said, “What is sitting on a padded seat pushing against weight-stack resistance going to do to help me be strong enough to push a car out of a ditch?”

Ya know what? Lance is right.

Machines just don’t cut it when it comes to building the kind of strength that you need when your car is stuck in a ditch, or if you have to carry a giant recliner down a flight of stairs.

That’s why I like Strongman Training.

Strongman Training, especially in the sense of lifting big, round, odd objects, like Stones, Sandbags, and Kegs, helps you develop the kind of strength that you can call on when you need it.

When you train with bulky implements like those, you literally feel like you can lift anything that crosses your path.

That kind of confidence can really come in handy in “Real World” situations.

So, now Lance is on a MISSION. He has a two-car garage just like mine and he wants to start Strongman Training.

But, he wanted to know what Strongman Gear and what types of Strongman Lifts he should focus on.

So, I told him about the Top 5 Strongman Training Lifts I suggest.

Top 5 Strongman Lifts/Events that Build REAL WORLD STRENGTH

1. Log Lift / Overhead Lifting

Bill Kazmaier – Log Lift

I LOVE Overhead Lifting and for that reason my favorite implement is the Log. It builds tremendous overhead strength, and it makes you develop a strong Core, Grip, and Power, especially when you perform dynamic overhead lifts.

2. Atlas Stones

Loading Atlas Stones

When you lift atlas stones, it makes you feel like you are capable of superhuman feats. There’s just something awesome about pulling a big, ugly, round stone off the ground and then either popping it up onto a platform or dropping it right back to earth (train outside if you are going to drop it, ha ha ha)

3. The Yoke

Phil Pfister – Refrigerator Yoke Walk

The Yoke is an implement that you carry across your shoulders. I absolutely HATE this event, but it makes you RUGGEDLY STRONG both physically and mentally. A heavy-ass Yoke draped across your back wants to crush you into the ground like a soda can, but you don’t let it. You just take one step at a time and show it who is boss.

4. The Tire Flip

Ready for the Tire Flip

You would be surprised at how big of a tire you can flip. Flipping a giant industrial tire may seem like a daunting task, but when you apply the strength you have worked to build with the proper technique, like I show you here, you can EXCEED your own expectations.

5. Farmer’s Walk / Frame Carry

Derek Poundstone – Frame Carry

This lift just plain makes a MONSTER out of you. Obviously, this exercise builds your Grip Strength, which is something I LOVE, but it also beefs up your Traps, Shoulders, Erectors, and Glutes. I like this exercise so much, I generally do it TWICE A WEEK.

There you have it – in my opinion the TOP 5 LIFTS from the world of Strongman Training. If you do these lifts, I guarantee you will develop strength that you can use in MANY other facets of life where you need to be able to lift heavy, bulky stuff.

The only caveat I would throw out there is NOT to try these lifts until you know the proper technique, so you can GET THE MOST OUT OF THEM.

If you need to learn the technique for these lifts, all you need to do is go here: Strongman Training DVD

All the best in your training.

Jedd

DIESELS,

There’s been a lot of stuff going on recently.

My dedication to bringing you the absolute best information for your training needs has never been higher.

Let me bring you up to date of just some of the things I have in the works…

1. How to Make Atlas Stones

I got together with Steve Slater from SlatersHardware.com and StrongmanStuff.com a few months back and we shot the complete DVD on how to make the best Atlas Stones.

That DVD should be ready this week. I have been running into some technical issues, but I am working through them.

If you have a set of molds and want to make better stones, or if you are thinking about getting some, stay tuned, because we left no stone unturned during the shooting of this DVD. Steve has made more stones than anyone else in the world and he is going to show you exactly how he makes the world’s best atlas stones.

2. Hub Lifting Mania

The Workout of the Month at The Grip Authority is uploaded and the members are digging it.

You can join The Grip Authority here for just $7.

I’ve got tons of awesome features on that site. If it’s grip or feats of strength related, then it is on TheGripAuthority.com.

3. Flexibility / Mobility Update

I have really been working hard on my stretching, ROM work, and soft tissue efforts the last couple weeks and my pecs and shoulders are starting to feel much better.

I also got the Horse Liniment that I mentioned in a newsletter last week. It is called “Absorbine Veterinary Liniment.”

I will report back to you about it, but I do have to warn you that it says right on the bottle “for livestock only,” so I am not going to tell you to go out and get it.

4. Grip Training for Track and Field

At a recent seminar, I met Matt Ellis from PrimalATC.com, who works with Track and Field Athletes. Matt and I decided to get together and shoot a DVD on Grip Training for Track and Field Athletes.

I never joined the Track team in High School because I was a baseball player, but Grip Strength is very important for Shotput, Javelin, Discus, Pole Vault, and even the Sprinters in the starting blocks. Plus, as it turns out, there are plenty of hand, finger, and wrist injuries that take place in Track, especially for the throwers.

We put together a DVD of drills that Track Coaches can do with their athletes to strengthen and bulletproof their lower arms.

Stay tuned for that. One of Matt’s colleagues is working to find a video editor to get that product ready, because I am working on another product already for you guys…

5. Next Project – ACL Tear Prevention

Tomorrow, I will start aggressively on completing a DVD I shot with Jerry Shreck from Bucknell University, on ACL Tear Prevention.

ACL Tears are a career threatening injury for nearly all athletes, and the statistics for college athletes are pretty eye-opening, but Jerry has been using a conditioning progression for several years with his athletes and it has been very effective in preventing them with his athletes.

Goal to release that DVD to all of you animals is 2nd week of June. Keep your eyes open…

As you can tell DIESELS, it has been a hot-bed of productivity around here the last few weeks.

I am dedicated to bringing the DIESEL UNIVERSE the information you all need to excel, whether you like to rip, bend, and twist things or if you dominate more conventional sports.

You are in the right place.

If you want to stay up to dat on the developments about these upcoming products and features, make sure you are signed up for the daily updates here at the site:

All the best in your training,

Jedd

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Congratulations to Brian Shaw for winning the 2011 World’s Strongest Man contest!
Brian was tied with Zydrunas Savickas going into the last event, the Atlas Stones, and finished a full stone ahead of Savickas to win the event and the championship!
Brian Shaw takes the final event, Atlas Stones:

Here’s another angle of the Atlas Stones:

To recognize Brian’s amazing suspense-filled victory, I am holding a sale on the Introduction to Strongman DVD.
Use this special link and you can get the Intro to Strongman DVD on sale for just $39 (regularly $49).
Special Price – Introduction to Strongman Training DVD
Congrats again to Brian, a true champion and ambassador to the sport. I have met Brian a couple of times, and what an outstanding guy – humble, approachable, enormous, and STRONG!
Click on the image below to take advantage of this special offer:

All the best in your training!
Jedd

Congratulations to Brian Shaw for winning the 2011 World’s Strongest Man contest!

Brian was tied with Zydrunas Savickas going into the last event, the Atlas Stones, and finished a full stone ahead of Savickas to win the event and the championship!

Brian Shaw takes the final event, Atlas Stones:

Here’s another angle of the Atlas Stones:

To recognize Brian’s amazing suspense-filled victory, I am holding a sale on the Introduction to Strongman DVD.

Use this special link and you can get the Intro to Strongman DVD on sale for just $39 (regularly $49).

Special Price – Introduction to Strongman Training DVD

Congrats again to Brian, a true champion and ambassador to the sport. I have met Brian a couple of times, and what an outstanding guy – humble, approachable, enormous, and STRONG!

Click on the image below to take advantage of this special offer:

All the best in your training!

Jedd

I have an awesome story to share with everybody in the Diesel Universe.

So, my driver’s license is going to expire on like December 4th, and every time this happens I wait too long and usually my license expires and I drive around illegal for a couple weeks before I finally go to the DMV and get it updated.

I decided that I would make this year different and went today to get it done, roughly 6 weeks before it expired. It was about 10:00 AM when I left.

So, I get in my car and my GPS is in there, so I figured I’d see what the truly shortest route is to the DMV from my house. I live in the countryside of Pennsylvania, and there are lots of back-roads I am not aware of, and it is always nice to know multiple routes, so I followed the GPS lead and got there about 10:30AM, because I had to follow a bunch of Natural Gas trucks through the mountains.

I get out of my Exploder and look at my license card and I see that it says I have Hazel eyes. “That’s not right,” I say to myself. So when I go inside and walk up to the desk, I point it out to the attendant, and she tells me to take a number. Five seconds into what would be a 45-minute wait, I realize that I have made a serious tactical error, so I pull out my Blackberry and proceed to get a new Personal Record in Word Mole…I rake at Word Mole.

Finally, it is my turn to go back and get my card corrected and I finally get my picture taken. I was becoming very frustrated with the delay that was building in this whole process, but when I saw how great my new license card came out, “relief washes over me in an awesome wave.”

So, I get in my car a little after 11 AM and I begin to realize how extremely hungry I am. It then pops into my mind that I will have to drive past the Chinese place in order to get home, and with it being lunch time, the price is cheaper, so I head that way to get my eat on.

When I get there, the place is packed and I lose interest in seating down to put my feedbag on, so instead I grab a carry-out container, load it with the Greatest Hits, pay for it, and head out.

Now, what happens next is the most important part, so please don’t hate me for dragging you through all this.

Before I get to that part, keep in mind that until this point, I have done roughly a half dozen things that I did not need to do. I did what I felt like doing, or what I felt would be good. I wasn’t going by a routine or a schedule. I was just going with the flow.

When I get to the door, there are at least ten people there wanting to come in, so I hold the door open for them. As I hold the door I look out to my car at how bad the back of it sags from carrying around Inch Dumbbells and Blobs, and other grip equipment all over the countryside for the first couple of years I owned it, and as I am looking, I see this huge figure cross between my eyes and my Exploder.

“Man that dude is a big son of a gun,” I thought to myself.

I looked again, and to my surprise, the gigantic figure that was blocking my view to my car was none other than Phil Pfister.

If you don’t know who Phil Pfister is, I will tell you. Phil Pfister won the World’s Strongest Man championship in 2006, becoming the first American to do so since 1982. At 6 feet, 6 inches and around 350lbs, the guy casts a pretty substantial shadow.

So, I stand there holding the door and introduce myself and it turns out he is in town for the night having just done a speaking engagement at the high school I attended as a teenager. “You need a place to train tonight, brother,” I say. “You should come over to my place tonight. I’ve got everything.”

“How’s 4 PM sound,” says Phil. “It sounds great!” Phil takes my number and I rush home to straighten up my garage a bit for the workout.

So, I meet Phil about 4 PM and he follows me to my house and we train for about 2.5 hours.

I show him around my gym, and he falls in love with my Stronger Grip equipment, especially the Stronger Grip Club and Mace, so we take them along with my Demolition Club out to the concrete pad in my yard and get warmed up with it. I PR’d on the Demolition Club, getting two sets of two gama casts – Awesome.

Demolition Club – 89lbs of SICK!

Then we move on to Tire Flips. Phil was just getting warmed up still and hit a couple doubles on the tire with ease. I did a few singles. It’s cold out, so we go back into the garage for some log press.

We manage to hold off for about an hour, and then the Grip Feat onslaught takes place. Here’s a run-down of everything we tried…

Two Hands Pinch: Phil gets roughly 230lbs on it, which puts him near the top 10 in the world first time touching it. I’m fairly certain with an additional 10-mil insert in there he could add another 20lbs if not more. I have two cut up thumbs, but was able to get 243 roughly 6 inches off the floor and controlled it on the way down.

Wrist Developer: This thing is a serious bastard to work with. I think the first time I worked on it I got level 4 or something like that. Phil proceeds to hit Level 3, 4, 5, and 6 with ease. He takes two tries to get Level 7. I work up to either a good attempt at 8 or it was damn close. I know it felt like I had solid contact, but I couldn’t hear it click and it was shaking so bad I couldn’t see it. That matches my best ever. I did not try level 9.

Blobs: Phil deadlifted it with ease the hard way and then made it look even easier the easy way. He wasn’t able to lift it by the face, but that is a very hard way to lift it the first time you try, even with hands the size of Phil’s. I got it by the face pretty easy, as I have most recently been training to lift the Fatboy Blob by the face, which is much harder.

Anvils: I have two anvils here right now. One is the standard 55lb anvil and the other is a big gruesome 120lber on loan from Rick Walker. We started out with the big 120, trying to pinch lift it by the top. In all the months I have been training to do this, I have managed to break it off the floor only once and it was roughly one inch. I hit hard with some good chalk and managed to pop it off the floor on my first try. Phil then proceeded to air lift it at least 6 inches off the floor. I let out this big scream because I thought he was going to deadlift it. I then get it about 4 inches off the floor for a nice partial PR.

Vertical Bar: We set up the 2″ Vertical Bar and worked up to a max lift. Phil gets 280lbs with one of his hands and misses with the other. I was able to get 260lbs. This was pretty late in the game. I think he can probably get 300lbs fresh.

Rolling Thunder: I set a new PR on the new handle, with a lift of 190lbs with each hand. 200lbs was welded to the floor. I forget what Phil got with the new handle, but he got about 230 with the old handle. By this point his grip was completely wasted.

All told, I hit like 6 PR’s and had a very memorable workout with one of the most famous strongman competitors in United States History. It was an incredible experience.

And none of it would have happened if I hadn’t decided to hold the door for those people, or get Chinese, or take a new route to the DMV, or decided to even get my license card updated today.

What does this all mean?

Don’t be bound to a schedule all the time. Have a plan but don’t be a slave to it.

Do something different for a change. Expand your boundaries. Continue to stretch yourself with your life, your training, your relationships, and who knows what come about from it.

I had the best training session I’ve had since August, because I looked down in my center console and saw my GPS laying there…

Here’s a couple pictures I got with Phil after the session was over.

Here, you can see that Phil is saying I am number 1,
as in the #1 best story teller in Northeastern Pennsylvania.

Phil shows off his monster Pinky Pad
while I try to pry his big meaty hand off of mine.

We compare thumbs. I think I’ve got him by a bit. What do you guys think?

All kidding aside, I had a great time tonight. It was awesome having Phil push me and I fed off his intensity for some solid PR’s. I really need a full-time partner.

Phil, you’re invited back anytime, brother.

All the best in your training.

Jedd

This past Friday I got a call on my cell phone around 9 PM. It was Rick Walker, who has written many of the articles we have in our strength and conditioning articles section.
CHECK OUT THE REST OF THIS KILLER POST AFTER THE JUMP (more…)

“We shall draw from the heart of suffering itself the means of inspiration and survival.” – Winston Churchill

All I could think about yesterday was what I had to do to survive.

It was a beautiful and hot day. The thermometer was showing over 90 degrees, and although it was slightly cooler in the Garage Gym, it was still humid and everything we touched got covered in sweat.

We started out with about 10 minutes of warm-up that included Mobility / PVC Roller / General Warm-up. By the end of that, we had already sweated through our shirts. Each of us went through a giant glass of water just during this time

CHECK OUT THE REST OF THIS KILLER POST AFTER THE JUMP (more…)

Keg Lifting Basics

Keg Lifting is a very fun and rewarding form of training.  Like Sandbags, Atlas Stones, and Logs, Kegs are considered odd objects.

What are Odd Objects

Odd objects are training tools whose center of gravity is unpredictable, often lying out away from the athlete.  Odd objects often have considerable bulk and gripping and controlling them is one of the primary challenges of lifting them.  While bars and dumbbells have a concise and predictable shape and center of gravity, odd objects force the athlete to react to the dynamic and unpredictable size, shape, and center of gravity of the object.

CHECK OUT THE REST OF THIS KILLER POST AFTER THE JUMP (more…)

Stone Lifting is a part of many strongman contests.

If you don’t know what you are doing, you can get your ass handed to you and end up with serious injuries.

It was for this reason that Smitty and I set out to put together a resource that new strongman competitors could use to learn the proper techniques for lifting atlas stones.

The idea was to produce something that would give new competitors the information they needed to keep them safe and injury free in the beginning and then go on to dominate as time went on.

A while back, we received this testimonial / review about our Stone Lifting Fundamentals DVD from Rob Russell in Yorkshire. Check out what he had to say, below.

CHECK OUT THIS KILLER POST AFTER THE JUMP (more…)

Be Ready for Anything at Your First Strongman Competition

Obviously ya gotta have the basics like clothes and shoes, but there are plenty of other things that you should have with you so you are able to capitilize on all the hard training you have done.

I’ve gotten to strongman comps and not been prepared. I don’t want that to happen to any of you, so recently, I started this series, “13 Things You Need for Your First Strongman Contest.”

(Here is part one ==> Strongman Contest & Part II ==> Strongman Equipment)

Below is Part III, the final chapter in this series.

What did I miss???  If you have any other suggestions, leave a comment below!

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Chalk

You need to bring your own chalk when you go to your first strongman contest. You just can’t rely on the promoter to have enough available. All the guys competing are going to be using it. Sure enough, there’s always a dude that isn’t happy with a block of chalk so he crushes the entire thing in his hand and turns it to dust. Next thing you know, a strong wind picks up and half the block of chalk blows down the parking lot like a tumbleweed in the desert.

So, this is what you need to do. Get yourself a decent size Rubbermaid container or other plastic container with a lid that snaps on really tight. Stick the chalk block in this container and keep it with you. The container should fit pretty well right into your bag that you take to the contest.

Another thing that we did for years is put a garbage bag inside a pail and then threw the chalk inside the garbage bag. When we needed chalk it was all right there. We could stick our hands down inside the bucket and chalk up real well and since the pail was nice and high, any dust would just get caught in the garbage bag and we would not lose any of the dust down the prairie…

Sun Block

At the very beginning of the day, you should load up on sun block prior to the contest, especially if you are competing outside. The worst thing that can happen during an outside strongman contest is getting sunburned. Sunburn leaves you dehydrated and fatigued – two things that make your strength levels plummet.

I usually competed with a tee shirt on, so I would make sure to cover my arms thoroughly, as well as coating my nose and face. I would also often wear a baseball hat during the contest, so my head was covered. I do not recommend applying sun block to your forehead, especially if you sweat a lot and definitely not if you have water proof sun block. If the water proof sun block gets into your eyes, it can be very difficult to get out of them. I have actually heard of people who have had to go to the emergency room because water proof unblock ended up getting into their eyes and doctors had to use a special solution to get it out of their eyes.

Remember what Terry Silver tells Daniel in Karate Kid Part III. If a man can’t see, he can’t fight. He can’t very well win a strongman contest either.

Change of Clothes

If you are pushing the fluids and pushing your limits, you are going to be sweating your ass off. For that reason, you should have at least one full change of clothes that you can jump into about half way through the competition. I’m talking everything from head to toe – not just a different tee shirt and shorts.

If you are going to be driving several hours back home after the contest like we used to do then you probably want to have another extra set of clothes for the drive back.

Foam Roller

Warm-up is important for being successful at your first Strongman comp. Make sure you warm up the right way. Pack your foam roller, dense medicine ball, or pipe made of cardboard or PVC. This will get your soft tissue right before the comp.

I’ll tell you another reason to have a foam roller with you at a strongman comp. In 2005, I did a backwards truck pull. My quads swelled up so bad from the ridiculous pump, that I couldn’t even move afterwards. In fact, I am convinced that I would not have been able to continue if I had not gotten Rick Walker to stretch me out. I am also convinced that if I’d had my foam roller there, I would have been able to loosen back up my quicker.

Jump Stretch Bands

Again, warm-up is important. You don’t want to head into one of the events cold or you could end up getting injured and being unable to finish the contest. What I would do is carry some purple Jump Stretch Bands right in my equipment bag that I could pull out and hit some reps with to get warmed up prior to the event. I liked to hit squats, good mornings, rows, military press, flyes, etc to get the blood flowing before going out to lift.

Stone Tacky for Hands & Arms

If the stones are in the contest, then you are going to need tacky in order to keep a level playing field with the rest of the competitors. Everybody uses it. You are going to need it, and you never know if the other competitors are going to let you borrow it or be a prick about it. Get some and keep it in your cooler until just before the stone event. You want it to stay sticky so it helps adhere your skin to the stones. If you leave it out, it will get greasy and will not offer much for improving your grip or speed in the stones.

Spray Tacky for Shoes

Believe it or not, some promoters will allow you to spray your hands with spray tack for stone flipping. They will also sometimes allow you to spray the bottoms of your shoes. We attended one strongman contest held an ice hockey rink. The ice was covered with a very slippery layer of plastic covering, and the competitors could spry the bottom of their shoes to keep from losing their traction in events like the tire flip and keg run.

Tacky Remover

You’re going to need something to get the tacky off your hands and arms after the atlas stone event. You don’t want that stuff all over the rest of your gear, your car, and your girlfriend. Unfortunately, many people do not know how to remove tacky once they are done with it. Don’t scrub for half an hour with soap and water – remove that stuff in minutes with some baby oil gel. Put a generous amount on your hand and rub vigorously over the area with tacky. After rubbing, wipe off with a towel and most of the tacky will be cleared off. There may still be some spots here and there, so just apply more gel.

Once you clean off the tacky with the gel, then is a good time to hit the soap and water. This is good to do in order to make sure that you get all the gel off your hands before the next event. Leftover gel will make holding things very difficult if you don’t get it all the way off, so attention to detail is important here.

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Well, my friends, there you go. 13 total things you need to have with you in your bag when you go to your first strongman contest. Now, obviously this is not and exhaustive list. Many people have already left suggestions in comments in the other two posts, including first aid kits and other things.

If you have any more suggestions that will help other new strongman competitors in the Diesel Community, please post them in the comments section below.

View Part 1 of this Series: Supply List for First Strongman Competition

View Part 2 of This Series: What to Take to Your First Strongman Competition

Sign Up for More Strongman Training Tips

You guys really know your stuff, as evidenced by the post on how to do a muscle-up.

Blew me away! Thanks for your comments and thanks for your support!

Until next time, all the best in your training!

-Jedd-

P.S. If your first contest has the Atlas Stones for an event, you might want to check out our Stone Lifting DVD. It has everything you need to know to prepare you for “the stones,” including how to apply tacky, various techniques for lifting the stones off the ground, how to load stones and how to incorporate stone lifts in your daily lifting routine.

Check it out here Stone Lifting Fundamentals DVD

What do you need to have with you at your first strongman contest?

Obviously ya gotta have the basics like clothes and shoes, but there are plenty of other things that you should have with you so you are able to capitilize on all the hard training you have done.

I’ve gotten to strongman comps and not been prepared. I don’t want that to happen to any of you, so last week, I started this series, “13 Things You Need for Your First Strongman Contest.” (Here is part one if you didn’t see it ==> Strongman Training.) (more…)

Bill Kazmaier, Legendary American Strongman Legend

Strongman is a great sport.

Each year, more and more athletes join the amateur strongman ranks in hopes of becoming a champion and perhaps even receiving their Pro Card. At one time, it was my dream to compete with the best in the world on the grand stage of the World’s Strongest Man championship, or the Strongman Super Series championship.

I can still remember the first contest I competed in. It was in Revere, Massachusetts and it was organized by CJ Murphy and Bob Jodoin of Total Performance Sports.
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The sport of strongman continues to grow and becomes more and more exciting all the time. Each year, more and more amateur competitors enter the ranks, shooting for the stars and the chance to get their pro card. Many say the biggest attraction about the sport of strongman is the tremendous test of raw, brute strength, lifting the mighty atlas stones.
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