Friday, December 21, 2012

12/21/12 - end of the world hammers

Training @ 715a

16# hammer
*winds x 5
*full x 35-40, best of 119

Spent some extra time on hammers today. Was originally just going to do a few then move onto braemar and wfd. Kind of bummed I didn't do that but I'm satisfied with todays hammer session. Original plan was to go 4 reps at 110, 4 reps at 120 then kill it. Well I went 4 at 110, then gassed it up and couldn't break 118. Positions fell apart and kept missing the finish very late which led into a 8-10 rep streak of terrible. Needless to say, I got frustrated and this kept me throwing hammers (instead of stepping away like I probably should have). I took a step back for a minute and thought about what was going on. I knew that everything was flat and I just wasn't getting a pop for the finish. I've also noticed that my big throws end up kind of flat even when I do hit the timing on the finish, there's just no pop/lift. So I slowed WAAAAY down. Just focused on relaxing, getting long and getting a higher angle on my orbit. It started coming together again but I was already pretty fatigued from this training week. Took about 15-20 throws very easily working on setting my orbit angle on my first wind. I found that if my orbit angle was good, my timing on the finish ended up being good. The flatter the orbit, the later I'd finish. Possibly because the higher angle let me stay off to my right more whereas the flatter orbit made me drift left? hmm, dunno for sure. Hit the gas on the last 4-5 throws and still couldn't get to 120, just nothing in the tank. Out of all the throws at least 25 of them were 110+. Solid ending for the week.

So it's now 5 hours later and it hurts to breathe. My mid section is incredibly sore and stiff. I'm pretty tired and beat up. Time to eat lots, sleep lots and only think about training. Hoping to throw wednesday and friday next week, but will play it by ear. Focus changes to stones after this deload. Thinking wednesday I'll throw braemar, wfd and hammer then stones and wfd on friday.

Merry Christmas everyone.

Thursday, December 20, 2012

12/20/12 - benchmark back squat & hammers

Benchmark week

Training#1 @ 430a

Back squat up to 545x1, miss 565
Ring dips 6 sets 4
Hang power cleans up to 225x3

545 back squat felt good, tough but good. I didn't know if 565 was in the tank or not but I went for it anyway. I got about 4" out of the hole and dumped it as I knew it wasn't going to go anywhere and didn't want to risk an injury trying to grind out a no brainer. 20# increase from last squat max is respectable, but not where I really wanted to be. I'll take it though, just push myself harder on the next block. Really excited to deload next week as I'm feeling pretty beat up. Dips felt solid, definitely need to get used to this. I've had some bicep/shoulder/pec issues this year and I think that is from the lack of stability excercises. Ring dips really hit some stabilizers that nothing else does so I've decided to do those instead of regular dips. I would hit a triple real fast, then on the 4th rep do a 5 count over 4 different positions during the descent, then hold the top position for 10 seconds before getting off the rings. Triceps and pecs are screaming, I like it. Power cleans felt good. Getting a better, smoother bump. Moved my hands out about 1.5" and am getting a good 2nd pull right at my pelvic bone. Focus next cycle will be power snatches and clean pulls on squat day.


Training#2 @ 715a

16# hammer
*winds x4
*full x24-28, best of 130'

41 degrees out this morning, makes it tough to loosen up. Couple that with the heavy squats and overall grueling week in the gym and I'm pretty stiff. For the first 6-8 I focused on getting the hammer out to 110ft as effortlessly as possible. Just hitting positions and so forth. Next 6 I focused on getting 120ft as easily as possible. Sped up the 3rd wind and was focusing on a good finish. Timing was off. These were going 115-125ish, but consistent here. The last 10-12 were full bore with focus on timing and a big finish. Took a few out at 118 and that was frustrating as the timing was WAY off on the finish (late). After getting back in my head I was hitting it right and was 125-128 for a lot of throws. Hit 130 on the last throw of the day. I wanted 130 earlier so I could take a couple more, but ran out of time and had to get to work. Winter solstice starts tomorrow (as well as the end of the world) so it'll start getting light out sooner. Wasn't able to throw yesterday once again because of the rain so was happy I got to throw today. Haven't touched a hammer since Last thursday and still went 130 today. Focus on hammer was to catch it very high on the 3rd wind, push the hammer off to my right as I'm sinking my hips, then drag the hammer through its low point turning into the finish to lift the hammer. Lots more reps needed, but it's coming together.

Tuesday, December 18, 2012

12/18/12 - benchmark ppress/deads

Benchmark Week

Training @ 430a

Push press up to 315x1, miss at 335
Deads up to 605x1 on 3rd attempt, 585x1, 495x1

Shitty session. Made a 10lb increase from push press from last benchmark, but was really looking for that 335. Next time. Deads were miserable. 545 flew off the floor then I missed my first two attempts at 605. I realized that I'm way out front and my positions are off. Pulled the bar in closer and nailed it on the 3rd attempt. I've realized that the touch-and-go deads I've been doing for the last 7 weeks or so have killed my power off the floor. Will be going back to full resets between reps and that should have things fixed up rather quickly.

No throws today, field is still really soggy. Honestly though, it's nice to take a break from throwing. Complete deload next week, very anxious. Only a couple throws sessions and a max squat stand in the way. Taking all next week off from work as well, lots of family time. Awesome.

Monday, December 17, 2012

12/17/12 - benchmark fsquat/incline press

Benchmark week

Training @ 430a

Front squat up to 475x1
Narrow grip incline press up to 315x1, miss at 335
BW pullups x5x4

Lots of rest time between sets and minimal accessory work. Maxing this week to determine new %s for my next block. Goal was to hit 455 on fronts and ended up smoking it. Got psyched up and killed 475 after. Didn't want to get greedy so I shut it down there. I wanted 365 on incline press but will have to settle for 315. I was unexpecting how much the triceps were going to come into play on the narrow grip (note: not close grip) incline presses. Definately going to stick with this, might have finally found a really good tricep exercise. Close grip flat bench just wasn't hitting it the way I wanted to. Missed 335 so whatevs.

Rainy all weekend so couldn't throw on Saturday and field is still very soggy so didn't throw this morning. Tomorrow = push press, deads & hammer. Looking forward to it.

Friday, December 14, 2012

12/13/12 - cleans/bsquat & hammer

Training#1 @ 430a

Hang cleans up to 225x3x3, attempted 275 and missed
Back squat 475x3x3
Snatch pulls 225x3x3

12" step ups 135x8, 225x8x2
BB shrugs 315x20, 405x10x2
DB curls 35x10, 50x10/40/30/20x10 drop set

sup, bro? You going to use that mirror? didn't think so

side note: squats felt awesome. missed the 275 clean because I'm trying to be less sloppy with the catch. No feet splay, little knee bend, high bump, etc. Tech isn't there yet and my bump was off so the 275 didn't go.


Training#2 @ 7a

16# hammer
*winds x5
*full x24, best of 121

Taking it real easy. Ab feeling good, just working on positions and engraining the muscle patterns. Set a cone at 110 and was trying to get it past the cone with as little effort as possible. Sped up the last 2-3 and was high 1-teens mainly with that one at 121. Pretty tired as this week was rough. Took yesterday off to rest up for squats today. Timing was off when I sped up the hammers so was losing them off to the left, way late. Going to push it a bit more on saturday when I get warmed up. Still making progress. Next week is last week of hammers before deloading and moving on to a focus on stones. Will take about 1/2 the reps at 80ish% next week and work up to some 100% tosses to work on timing.

Tuesday, December 11, 2012

12/11/12 - ppress/deads & wfd

Training#1 @ 430a

Push press 275x3x3
Deadlift 575x3x3
DB rows 105x10, 125x10, 150x10

M-I-S-E-R-A-B-L-E. PPress and rows felt as good as they could. Didn't struggle with any of the push press reps and the 150# rows weren't easy but weren't hard either. The deads were stupid. Every rep was a grinder. I'm feeling very weak, borderline overtrained right now. Getting little tweaks here and there are confirming it as well. Right tricep has been very very stiff last few days, left knee very achy, minor abdominal strain, and both shoulders feeling stiff. One more week then a sweet deload with lots of stretching and rolling.

Training#2 @ 7a

56# wfd
*one turn x8-10, best of 38
*full x8-10, best of 41

Was actually on the field at 630, but it didn't lighten up until almost 7am. Very annoying. Was also goddamn cold this morning, something I'm definitely not used to. Low 40s make it very tough to "warm-up". Took me about an hour before I was actually feeling good and hitting good positions. The downside was that I was exhausted by then and only had about 15 more minutes to throw before I had to get to work. Tomorrow I'm not training weights in the morning so I'll get to the field early and do a few laps and some dynamic stuff to warmup. Will dress warmer too so it takes less throws to get everything moving right. Going to throw weights again tomorrow and try to spend some time with the 28 after some one turns and fulls to warmup with the 56. Fun. Hammers thursday.

Need to start ingesting more protein. Recovery feels pretty blegh lately.

Monday, December 10, 2012

12/10/12 - fsquat/cgpress & hammer

Training#1 @ 440a

Front squat 385x3x3
Close grip bench up to 330x1
GMs 225x10x2, 225x12

pullups x5
dips x10
x4 rounds

Cg press feeling very week. Whatevs.

Training#2 @ 645a

16# hammer
*winds x5
*full x26, best of 126

Not looking for anything big today. Trying to keep it all smooth and controlled. High 1-teens and low 120s. Worked on cleaning up my entry as it was kind of choppy before. Feeling very loose and whippy, despite being slow. Gassed a couple on the 3rd wind towards the end and hit the 126, then kept missing the finish and hitting too late. Need to keep thinking: push the hammer out to my right side, sink the hips and scoop it out into the field. My lower right side of my abs have been tender the last two times throwing hammer so I'm going to back off a bit this week. Instead of throwing hammer tomorrow, I'll throw stones tomorrow then weights wednesday and hammer thursday. Going to stretch and heat as well. I'd really like to go 135 by the end of next week, but I'll be happy for now just being consistant at 130. After next week the training focus moves to stones until february.

12/8/12 - wfd/stone/hammer

Training @ 7a

56# wfd
*one turn x5-6, best of 42
*full x6-8, best of 45

28# wfd x 10-12, best of 82

One turns felt good, lots of pop for the finish. Fulls felt really good. Didn't crush any of them, just hitting positions and looking for a big lift at the end. Looking forward to getting after this real soon. Lwd was frustrating me. Kept throwing very flat and didn't even realize it. Lots and lots of 77s and 78s with a couple at 80. Realized I had absolutely no lift at the end and a flat orbit throughout. Fixed that on my last couple throws and dropped one at 80 and 82. Satisfied for now. In February I'll dedicate some serious time to the weights, specifically the 28#er and hopefully I'll see some good progress.

15.5# stone
*stand x 5-6, best of 46ft
*full spin x7-8, best of 48ft

Meh.. standings feeling really good. Nice pop and pushing out over the trig. Spins still way off. Going to be spending a lot of time with these in January trying to get a nice and smooth transition. When I do a 180 drill I'm able to keep my right turning and get my left all the way around into a good power position, but when I do the full spins my left leg stops short and I don't get my hip all the way through. Lots of work to do.

16# hammer
*winds x3-4
*full x8-10, best of 131

Good tosses here. Started off in the high 1-teens and went up from there, adding a bit of effort with every throw. Called it quits at 131.

Overall good session. Feeling like I need a deload. One week of 3s which, personally, are easier than 5s despite being heavier. Then a max out week and I'm home free for a week of doing nothing. Can't wait, haha.

Thursday, December 6, 2012

12/6/12 - cleans/bsquat & hammer

Training#1 @ 430a

Hang cleans up to 225 x a couple singles, drop to 135 and work tech
Back squat - 455x4, 455x3, 455x2
12" box step ups - 225x8x3

womp womp wommmmmp.. just wasn't in it today. WIM approaching record low levels. The 3rd day in a row caught up with me. Probably could have ground out 5 for the first 2 sets and maybe 3 or 4 on the last but just feeling run down this week. Going to rest tomorrow, throw saturday and rest sunday. Heavy triples next week.

Training#2 @ 7a

16# hammer
*winds x3
*full x20, best of 122

Good practice despite the lack of energy and overall "give-a-fuck" of the prior weight session. Just wanted to keep it slow and work the finish specifically so the effort level wasn't very significant. I've got a bad habit of hitting the finish early. I drive the weight down to my right side and GO GO GO so it comes out way off to the right and ends up being pretty flat as well. Focused on getting long and whippy but trying to catch it very high and add speed on the way down before the finish. These were about 20% successfull. Last few throws I tried something else using the mental cue of "scooping" the hammer. Instead of focusing on driving the hammer down, I focused on catching it high, sinking my hips, pushing it away from me (to my right) then "scooping" or dragging the hammer all the way across my body and finishing big. I've been told to drag the finish before but the word "scoop" worked much better than the word "drag" for some reason. Whatevs... it worked pretty well. Going to play with it some more next week then increase speed again. Looking forward to saturday.

Wednesday, December 5, 2012

Beard update



12/5/12 - ppress/deads & hammer

Training#1 @ 430a

Push press 265x5x2, 265x4+1
Deads 550x5x3

Hammerstrength rows x10x3
Db curl drop set .. wicked pump bro

Figured out I'm pressing just a tiny bit too wide on the push presses. Missed the 5th rep on the last set of push presses. Took belt off and decided to try again. Belted back up, readjusted my grip inwards (ring finger on rings) and smoked the last rep. About 45 seconds between the last attempt and going again. Deads felt good, also figured out an adjustment issue. First rep last few weeks has been absolutely killer. This morning figured out I'm probably 1" too far away from the bar when I begin my pull. 24hr fitness has octagon plates so I can't roll it into the position I want to start in and have to be more mindful. On the last set I stepped in just a tiny bit closer to the bar and smoked the rep and everyone thereafter. Next week is 575x3 then benchmark week to see where I'm at. Hopefully have made some improvements.

Training#2 @ 645a

16# hammer
*winds x5
*full x26, best of 124'

Meh.. Was getting nice and long and kind of whippy, but just not attacking the finish like last week. Keeping slow to fast on my winds, however, I noticed that I'm catching my 3rd wind high, but catching the finish low and not getting a big pop. Now I know what the issue is between yesterday and today's hammers I can work on that. Think I might throw hammer tomorrow instead of stone/wfd since hammers are the focus right now. Also thinking of extending hammer focus out until my deload at Christmas then swapping to stones during the deload and after first of the year. Might just work a lot of 85% reps tomorrow with a handful of big ones to dial in the movement a bit better. Timing is certainly an issue, but if I applying force at the wrong times then speeding it up is just going to make it go downhill which is whats happening now. I need to be consistant at 135+ if I want to be competitive.

Tuesday, December 4, 2012

12/4/12 - fsquat/cgbench & hammer

Training#1 @ 430a

Close grip bench- 315x3, 315x2x2, 275x5  ... meh
Front squat 370x5x3

pullups x5
dips x10
lying leg raises x10 x 3 rounds

Bench feels awful. Cheers to tanking my bench and increasing Fsquats simultaneously. Fuck it.


Training#2 # 645a

16# hammer
*winds x6
*full x22, best of 124

Feeling tired from squats, but thats no excuse. Just wasn't able to get lose and whippy, even when I got after it. The number of the day was 123ft for probably 12+ throws. Whatevs. On my next to last throw I realized I wasn't really focused on getting very long, rather was focusing on speed. Last rep decided to focus more on stretching out and increasing my orbit radius. Speed slowed down quite a bit but still went 123 with much less effort. Need to keep that in mind for tomorrow. Winter solstice coming up soon so hopefully will start getting light earlier and can get back to throwing at 615ish again.

12/1/12 - stone/wfd/hammer

Training @ 830a

21.5# braemar stone x8-10, best of 40'

PR with this heavy of a stone. Been staggering my left behind my right a bit more. Left toes are 2-3" behind my right heel. This is letting me push my right hip through better to get more separation. I think there's still more in the tank, but considering stones haven't been a focus as of late I'm happy with some progress.

15.5# ostone x10-12, best of 50'

Same as with bstone. Stones haven't been a focus as of late, but this was a pretty good stone session. Worked on keeping my right foot low, more of a sweeping motion that transitions into a very fast spin and placement of my left foot. Not pulling my left around as much as I need to which is causing the finish to be off, but this is a definite improvement over before. Felt much smoother. Had a couple really good toses that came off my fingertips. Just wasn't able to put it all together without something going wrong.

56# wfd
*1 turn x3-5, best of 42'
full x6-8, best of 45'

Focus on getting low on the 1 turns for a big long pull on the finish. Also was focusing on not stepping over. I do a lot of step-overs and I don't want to get in the habit of this. I need to go big in the trig and stepping over in a games is not going to get me there so I was working on dialing in a big finish without coming over. Felt good. For the fulls, first few tosses I shot right over the trig before finishing. I think my 2nd turn was too flat. Fixed this and was landing just right. Nailed a few with lower hips and went several 43s, a couple 44s and a 45. Need to get lower. High 40s have to be consistent.

28# wfd x6-8, best of 82

I had one I thought I lauched out there, but it hit an invisible wall. I need to get lower and much faster. Just not getting a long finish like on the heavy. Going to be spending a lot of time with lwd in february to work on speed and timing. I need this to be in the high 80s if I want to be competitive with the big dogs next year.

22# hammer x6-8, best of 103'

Haven't swung a heavy hammer since the Tucson games so I was really tight on this. Not really able to get super long and comfortable with it. First one was mid 80s, second was high 90s, third was 102 and the rest were up over 100. Threw away my gloves on thursday because they were too tackied up and didn't have a chance to get more. The tacky on my bare hands felt fine in the beginning of the throw but by the 3rd wind I could feel it slipping out and this was causing me to pull in. Just wasn't getting very long and relaxed here. Need to start throwing heavy hammer more often. Will add these in on saturdays with the rest of the tosses.

16# hammer x1 = wom wom wommmmmm

Felt abs really tighten up on this rep and just decided to call it. Was pretty tired and rounding the 3rd hour of practice.

Overall good throws session with Adam and Eddie. Looking forward to continued progress this off-season. Goal next year is to not look like a fool in the Pro class.

..........yes I said Pro class. I decided that it doesn't really benefit me to stay an amateur next year. I don't have plans to travel and compete in lots of games next year, so with that said... why wait? I feel that throwing myself to the wolves will only make me a better thrower and increase my experience level among esteemed athletes. I'm very excited and very intimidated at the same time. I know that I'll only get a handful of invites next year and I'm ok with that, considering I only complete a handful of times anyways. I'm hoping the experience I gain next year pushes me to to the next level to be a very competitive Pro in 2014. Cheers for big things in the future.

Thursday, November 29, 2012

11/29/12 - snatch/bsquat & hammers

Am weight = 275.2lbs

Training#1 @ 430a

hang snatch up to 155x3x2
hang snatch pulls 225x3x3
back squat 435x4, 435x5, 435x6

and done. No stepups today, knees were on fire and overall fatigue creeping up to record high levels. Was supposed to be 435x5x3 with max rep on the last set. First set of 4 was demoralizing, just couldn't push it. Pulled it together on the 2nd set and made up the missed rep on the 3rd set.

Training#2 @ 645a

16# hammer
*winds x3
*full x16, best of 131'8" big training PR

Took a couple winds to loosen up after the squats and it was feeling good. Very whippy and long. First toss was 114' with nothing on it so I knew it was going to be a good day. Started getting after it after the 3rd or 4th toss, working on speeding up the 3rd wind. Nice and stead first wind into a smooth 2nd wind with a wide orbit then an ridiculous 3rd wind and big finish. Hit a couple 128s and a bunch of 125s with a 129 in the mix. Kept missing my finish either early or late which made a huge difference in where the hammer fell. Decided to slow it down just a tidbit and hit one out at 128 again straight down the pipe. Sped it up just a tiny tiny bit and nailed the 131'8 for a big PR. As soon as it left my hands I knew it was going to go 130+. Big focus here was to keep my hips moving. Catch it high, sink my hips and drive my right knee in to get it moving then get long on left side and immedately sink hips again. Slow to fast was also a focus here. Don't kill the 2nd wind, keep it smooth and kill the 3rd. Making progress here. No predictions but I definately feel there is more int he tank.

11/28/12 - stone/wfd

Training @ 640a

15.5# braemar stone x 12, best of 47'

Making changes here. Staggered my left leg back more to open my hips better. Focused on leading everything with my right hip. Also worked on my reverse a bit as it was previously decreasing power output. Had some really good tosses, avg about 45ft. Improvements ftmfw.

56# wfd
*1 turn x8, avg 41-42
*full x11, best of 45ft, one at 44 and a bunch at 43ft

Working higher effort throws here to dial in timing for a big pull. Still need to sink a little bit more and reach for a longer pull. Moar improvements. Satisfied.

11/27/12 - ppress/deads & hammer

Training#1 @ 430a

Push press 250x5x2, 250x7
Deads 525x5x3
Box jumps/db rows/db curls x2 sets

Training partner nailed 10 reps with his last set of deads. I could have done the same but every effing rep made me feel like I was going to vomit. No bueno.


Training#2 @ 645a

16# hammer
*winds x5
*throws x22, best 128'

Started picking up the speed on the last 4-5 tosses. Training PR at 128' felt solid. Looking forward to getting after it even more.



11/26/12 - fsquat/cgpress & hammer

Training#1 @ 430a

Fsquat 350x5x2, 350x8
Cgpress 300x5, 300x4, 300x3
Gms 225x10, 275x10
Pull-ups/dips x2

Training#2 @ 640a

16# hammer
*winds x6-8
*full x10, best 122

Getting more consistent with the hammer: sink hips / drive right knee in / long left side

11/21/12 - stone/wfd/hammer

Training @ 345p

15.5# stone
*standing x5-8, 40-42ish
*full spin x5-8, 45-47ish

Not really into the stones as of late so I just put the work in. Did figure out that I'm raising my right leg too high off the ground. I've known this and keep falling into bad habits until someone points it out. On my very last rep, kept my right close to the ground and more of a sweeping motion. Right foot landed, kept turning, hit the block. Good toss.

56# wfd
*1 turn x5-6, 38-42
*full x6-8, best of 46'10" training PR

28# wfd x5, best of 82ish

1 turns were feeling solid, especially after taking most of the week off from training. Was really focusing on getting low and leaning a bit to my right side for a long pull. Switched to fulls and the magic started. Two throws under 40ft. Avg about 42ft with a couple at 43ft. Then on my last one I just wanted to get low and really hit a long long finish..........and that happened. Stepped over the trig but it flew over the cone I had at 45ft. Tweaked my left knee a tiny bit, just some old patellar tendonitis so nothing new. Finally broke that 45ft barrier and felt what a big throw should feel like. Looking forward to things to come on this one. Went onto the 28 at this point. Went 3 in the high 70s and 2 in the low 80s. Need to work with the 28 more so I can dial in my timing for a big throw. I swear the 82 footer landed around 85, but there wasn't any divots around (was throwing into dirt) so I just went with the next closest which was 82. Meh, whatevs. There's a big one in there lurking.

16# hammer
*winds x2-3 to loosen up
*full throws x6-8, 118-122ish

Working on catching the ball high then immediately dropping my hips and pushing my right knee in then getting super long with my left. Very smooth, just slow. Looking forward to adding some speed to this soon.


Great training day out with Adam Brezina and Brandon Hall today. Looking forward to the next time we throw together.

11/16/12 - stone/wfd

Training @ 6a

15.5# stone
*stand x6-8
*full spin x6-8

meh
56# wfd
*1 turn x5
*2 turn x3

Cop showed up and told us someone called regarding suspicious activity in the park.

1) We aren't in a park, it's a water retention basin.
2) We aren't breaking parks & rec regulations
3) We have permission from parks & rec dept to be there.

Officer was cool about it and said we could keep throwing but he had already taken up most of my allotted time and I need to get to work. Was a bit annoyed about that.

11/15/12 - snatch/ bsquat & hammer

Training#1 @ 430a

Power snatch up to 205
Back squat 455x3x2, 455x5
12" box step ups 135x8, 225x8x2
Db rows x2

Meh, just putting work in.


Training#2 @ 630a

16# hammer
*5 winds no release x8-10
*3 winds w/release x12

Working on driving the right hip and dropping my hips to sink the ball while staying long on the left side. Coming along.


Tuesday, November 13, 2012

11/13/12 - ppress/deads

Am weight = 269

Training @ 430a

Ppress 265x3x2, 265x5
Deads 550x3x2, 550x6

Today was one of those days. Push press warmups felt ok but the first work set at 265 felt miserable. Stiff, low energy levels and just didn't "want" to be there. Last set was a max rep but 5 reps was def not max reps. I'm fairly certain I could've gone to 8 if I had the desire to really push it. Stopped at 5 because the lockout felt hard. This is a 5 rep work set for me in about 3 weeks, so hitting this for 5 makes me confident for my next cycle after I deload next week. Deads felt good once I got going. I've gotten into a terrible habit of using straps because at 5am, I'm so lazy I just don't want to put any effort where it isn't needed. I'm going to start chalking again. I just feel more in-tune with the bar without straps. Deads weren't easy but they certainly weren't hard. Again, just stopped at 6 here because I didn't have the WIM. Probably could've gone to 8, possibly 10.

Skipped hammers today, like I said, one of those days. Went home and relaxed for a bit with the Mrs and played with the kiddo some before heading into work. Tomorrow is my 4 year wedding anniversary so there will be no training and I'm taking the day off. I'll hit some snatches/squats/hammers on thursday, then some stones/weights friday and stones/weights/hammers/caber saturday and done-zo until the week of the 26th (outside of some deload type stuff, maybe 2 light weight sessions and 2 light throws sessions early next week).

Monday, November 12, 2012

11/12/12 - fsquat/cgpress & hammer

Training#1 @ 430a

Fsquat 370x3x2, 370x6
Gms 225x10, 275x10, 315x10
Cgbench 315x3x3
Pull-ups bwx5x5

Db overhead tri ext x3


Training#2 @ 645a

16# hammer
*5 winds no release x10
*3 wind throws x14

Keeping a focal point right in front of me at all times, especially the first wind. From there focusing on dropping my hips and pushing my right knee in to drive the ball. Lift the ball, eyes to the sky, drop, push the knee on the 2nd wind. Then extend to my left, lift the ball, watch the ball, drop the hips, push the right knee and big finish. Getting much more natural. Very slow movement getting high 1-teens. Going to do the same tomorrow then see if I can get after it on Thursday without missing the finish. If I start missing the finish on then I'll slow it down again. Focus here is to nail all the positions then as soon as the ball is above me, catch it, drive it and finish the hell out of it. Very happy with how hammer is coming along just in the past 2 weeks with the added hammer practice.

11/9/12 - snatch/bsquat & stone/wfd

Training#1 @ 430a

Power snatch up to ugly 205x3
Bsquat 430x5x2, 430x6
12" box step ups 135x8, 225x8x2


Training#2 @ 640a

15.5# stone
*stand x6
*south African x6
*full spin x8

Just getting the reps in here. Spoke with MattV for a while and came to the conclusion I'm driving too hard with my right leg and that's why I'm over-reaching.. need to focus more on driving/sprinting with my left leg. Focus on "walking through" the spin. Going to try to fall onto my right and bring my left around fast, similar to Jacko Gill. From there I can progress a bit more. Definitely need to get this reaching issue under control.

56# wfd
*one turn x6
*full x6
28# wfd x4

One turns felt good, need faster feet to get into a position sooner for a big finish. Faster feet -> more push to zero -> faster implement -> bigger finish. Drifting 6 or so inches forward on my first spin. Need to fix this as I'm stepping over the trig by about 6" at the front. Also focused leaning over my right side and getting a real long pull/push on the weight. I definitely like this. 28 was good, feeling tired so the throws weren't great.

Thursday, November 8, 2012

11/8/12 - ppress/deads & hammer

Training#1 @ 440a

Push press 250x5x2, 250x8
Deads 520x5x2, 520x8
Db rows x2

Great day. Not much accessory stuff but meh, whatevs. Push press felt really solid. Deads started out feeling heavy but got lighter with each set and rep. The rep out for both was pretty fun. Conditioning is shit. Need to get on this.

Training#2 @ 630a

16# hammer
*5 winds no release x 8-10
*3 wind throws x16

Spending a lot of time watching Larry Brock's hammer videos. His tech is flawless. Working on catching high, driving the ball down then pushing it with my right hip before pulling it back up. Need to focus more on sinking my hips on the down stroke so I can get more hip behind the ball to drive it faster. Slow reps today and for the next couple sessions, just drilling the movement pattern in then I can start getting after it. Changing focal point to dead I front of me helped a lot. Not twisting my hips to the right so much is letting me drive the ball better. Need to work on staying long on the left side though without sacrificing orbit angle by leaning back too far. Good practice.



Haven't been paying attention to calories, but I was about 276 last night after dinner. Workouts and throws are both up. I'd really like to maintain here so I'll have to start paying attention to calories again soon. Blegh, sick of counting.


11/7/12 - fsquat/cgbench & hammer

Training#1 @ 445a

Fsquat 350x5x2, 350x8
Cgbench 300x5x2, 300x3
Pull-ups bwx5x3

Good sesh, very happy with the front squats, looks like I'm making progress here again. Cut the accessory as I'll be training 3 days in a row this week. Will add back in next week. Cg bench was ok, bummed about the last set.



Training#2 @ 630a

16# hammer
*5 winds no release x 12-15
*3 wind throws x6-8

Working various things here:

fixing focal point
sinking hips to drive the ball down
pushing right knee in to drive the right hip to drive the ball left
getting under the ball quickly so I can stay long

Every rep was iffy, hard to put it all together, but I'm getting rid of bad habits and forming new good ones so I'm happy with the practice.

Monday, November 5, 2012

Beard pic - 36 days

11/4/12 - Tucson Games

Tucson Highland Games A Class

Bs – 33+ (2nd)
Os – 47+ (1st)
Hwd – 41’7 PR (1st)
Lwd – 78+ (1st)
20# Sheaf – 27’
Hham – 94+ (1st)
Lham – 114+ (2nd)
Caber – 2:30ish (3rd)
WOB- 16 spin (1st)

Overall 1st

Well, that was a fun games. Haven’t had that much fun in a while. Lots of talent moving into the As as of late and it keeps you on your heels. It was great seeing the guys and hanging out.

Bs- ugly piece of shit 24.5# AZ stone (which I thought we got rid of and replaced with a decent 22 pounder). Couldn’t get a good handle on this thing. I went 35+ with it in Phoenix the first game of the season. Just lacking explosion here today. Good enough for 2nd which is fine because there’s no way I wanted to take extras with that piece of crap.

Os- meh, the trouble ensues. Went 46+ for the W and then took extras and went 47+. No PRs here. Was just focusing on getting my right foot down, staying low then bringing my left foot down very quickly. I tend to progress pretty quickly and with all the recent changes I just didn’t have enough time. I will have some very big ostone numbers next season though.

Hwfd – went 39+ on my first attempt, just walking through the positions. Fouled my second at 43+ and I can’t remember my third. Took the extras and finished with 41’7 which is a PR. I should be happy but there is much more in the tank here as I wasn’t really able to crush the finish on any of these. I had a decent sprint and just blew by the push on the finish.

Lwfd – blegh 78+. Was getting great speed on the sprint but again missing the finish. Not unhappy with this but not happy with it either.

20# sheaf – Cleared 27ft without much of an issue. Went to 30ft afterwards and had missed on accuracy. Was either peaking in front or behind the bar. Only spent about 3 weeks practicing sheaf so it’s time to invest time time and get good at it for phoenix next year.

Hhammer – playing with a new grip so not really focused on the normal stuff. Just trying to get longer on my left side for a smoother pull and I think I’ve taken that step forward. Watched a video of the Celtic Giants in Norther Ireland from 2005 and noticed that Vierra only has 2 fingers of his right hand touching the hammer and the other two fingers are wrapped around his left hand. Gave this a shot and was getting very long. Felt great. Didn’t put anything on it but still dropped my first one at 91ft and second at 94ft, good enough for 1st so I passed my 3rd since I knew Adam would give me a run for my money on Lhammer.

Lhammer – Just worked on hitting positions and really only increasing speed on 3. I think I went 109, 112, 114 and Adam hit 115 on his last one so he took the cake. Going to be working hammer a lot this off season too. Now that I’m getting more comfortable with the positions, it’s time to take A LOT of throws and work on getting them fast.

Caber – 18ft 100#s, by now we were all pretty tired and this caber def felt more like 150#s than 100, lol. It had gotten windy all of a sudden so we were chasing a hell of a headwind when running. I think only 4 of us turned the caber. Neither Adam nor myself turned the 1st attempts so we took a deep breath and figured we had to actually try on our 2nd and 3rd attempts. I think I got a 2:30 or something on both 2nd and 3rd. Both attempts I had a great pick and really good run, then I put the caber into position on my hip, stopped and pulled… both times the headwind slowed the top of the caber down so much, haha.. oh well..

Wob – 16ft spinning. First time ever spinning. I attempted a spin in phoenix 2011 and that was just silly. I cleared 12 and 13 standing. It was a long day, 9th event and we were all tired so I decided to just have some fun. Chalked the shit out of my thumb and went for it with the spin. Cleared 14 and 15 easy. Then Adam wanted 15’6 to go for a PR and he crushed it. Then I spun 15’6 and 16’ again pretty easy. Jumped to 17 and just couldn’t get it. I would have it the bar on one of the attempts but my peak was off. This was pretty fun so I’m going to play around with this learning the accuracy. It’ll be a nice tool to have in my box.

Overall had a great time on a great field. Thanks to Rich Wells for putting on a great and fun games like he always does. Thanks to my teammates Adam Brezina and Jake Nicol for pushing me and having a great time. Thanks to Stewart and Torgersen Injury Law (1800ourlawyer.com) for continuing to support us and allow us to keep having fun at all these games. We’re very proud to and grateful to have the chances to represent the company the way we do. Props out to Ed Brown, my training partner, for putting together a solid performance. Tech is looking much improved. Had you not DFL’d hwd by fouling completely out, I think you would have gotten a pretty good placing. Thanks to my family for coming out and supporting me and taking care of my little boy while he runs all over the place. Big big big thanks to my always supportive wife, hauling our (almost) 2 year old 2 hours away from home and out on the field while being 6.5 months preggers and still looking so damn fine while doing it. Love you always sweetheart.

Now, it’s go time. Off season is going to be big this year. Contemplating increasing calories to maintenance now and making some real progress. I’ll take a week to decide for sure if that’s what I want to do or not. First games of the year will be Phoenix in March 2013. I’m going to label that a “Game of PRs” for me. Haha..

Friday, November 2, 2012

11/2/12 - sheaf/ostone/Lwd

Am weight = ?

Training @ 545a

20# sheaf x15-18
15.5# full spin ostone x18
28# wfd x12-15

Sheaf = moar legzzz. Cutting my explosion really short by not getting a lot of leg drive. Tried pushing the bag away from me in the pendulum rather than straight down, though still not getting enough leg drive. Was trying to throw over a light post and was about a foot under it for the majority of the throws. I’m assuming the post is 30ft, but I dunno. Def need more legs though.

Ostone = need a faster left leg. Watching the video over and over again and I’m just blowing right over top of my left block. Instead of using my left leg to stop my left hip, I’m just jumping up and everything is falling to pieces. Just need more reps, lots and lots more reps.

28# wfd = I’ve been asking a few of the high caliber wfd throwers (approx the same height as me) what their strength and deadlift numbers were when throwing huge hwfd and lwfd numbers. I asked big Dan Williams how much he was squatting when he went 48’10” with the hwd in Tucson 2010. His reply: 715… Holy shit. Chatted with Francis Brebner beifly yesterday and he said he just did 400-500 for reps and topped out around 600 on the deadlift. This gives me hope. He said I’ve got a lot of potential on the weights, I just need to get over on my right side more to create a longer pull. This got me thinking. I wasn’t even going to throw wfd this morning but I wanted to try what he was suggesting. A longer pull, so more of an oval/ellipses shaped orbit, rather than circular. Score. First couple reps I hit it after the first spin and had a huge sprint forward, right over the trig, haha. Had to dial that back a bit but tried to get a super long pull on the finish and the results were great. I’m day 5 in a row training and squatted yesterday. My back is crushed and I’ve got no energy. Was dropping these at 78-79ft pretty consistently and moving much much slower than I am used to. I felt like the weight was moving so slow. Looking forward to spending more time with this and hopefully taking my wfd to the next level.

Tucson games on sunday. Time to stretch/foam roll/ice bath and get some solid end-season marks.

For your enjoyment (or mine, meh):


Thursday, November 1, 2012

11/1/12 - snatch/bsquat & ostone

Am weight = ?

Training#1 @ 430a

Hang power snatch up to 185x3x3
Bsquat 405x5x2, 405x6
18" step ups 135x8

Snatches felt solid, good warmup for squats. Going to start hitting these much more often. Squats felt good.

Training#2 @ 630a

15.5# stone
*stand x 8
*full spin x 18-20

Standing throws are a wash, going to need to dedicate some serious time to them if I want to get up over 40 next season. Spins are getting better, well, the transition is at least. The front is absolutely terrible, but I'm piecing it together. I'm trying to think of the sprint/drive phase as less of a sprint/drive and more of a very fast step. So, slow out of the back, a very wide right foot sweet, then kick my right foot to the right and pull it in some and JUST before I touch down, start moving my left foot. If I try to "jump" onto my right foot, my right leg has to absorb that impact and the foot stops turning. By being more patient on the sprint and staying on my left longer, I'm able to keep it turning. Now things to work on: be more patient before finishing and separate better. Positive stone session. I hate stones a little less now.


Wednesday, October 31, 2012

10/31/12 - wfd

Am weight = 273

Training @ 630a

56# wfd x20, avg 39-40
42# wfd x10, avg 54-55

First 5 with the 56 were miserable... like 24, 32, 35ish miserable, haha.. Always takes me about 5 throws to get going with the 56 in the morning. After that they were gold. Very little sprint, maybe 50-60%, just enough to set me up for a big finish as that's been my main priority lately: separating at the front, push to zero and huge lift/finish. Hitting 40-41 with nothing on it. By the time I got to the 15-20, I was a bit fatigued so when I started pushing the sprint my finish was a tad off. Not by much, just not as much energy. Dropped down to the 42 to keep working and speed things up some. Easy cast, easy sprint, big finish. I like. Last couple I gassed the sprint and were sitting around 56-57. Can really feel the push to zero before the sprint with this one, I like that. Going to keep working the 56 and 42 in one session. I wanted to work the 28 some but didn't have enough time. This took approx 80mins with a training partner. Shoulder is feeling much better so I'm going to start hitting some (about 10ish) one turn/sprint drills for a warmup before moving to fulls. This will also help me work the finish a bit more. I need to build and industrial strength RC truck that will fetch my weight for me, haha.

Side note: my wife made my son's halloween costume. He's been into busses a lot lately and has been vocalizing that quite a bit. He'll be 2 in December so she took a box and made this for him so we're going to take him around to a handful of houses tonight so he can do what he always wants to do: knock on everyone's door. Hahahaha..



10/30/12 - deads/ohp & stones

Am weight = 273ish

Training#1 @ 430a

deads 490x5x3
strict ohp 200x5x3
db rows x3
db curls x3

Nothing really of note here. Going to start focusing more on push presses rather than strict pressing.


Training#2 @ 630a

15.5# stone
*stand x12-15
*full spin x8-10

Sigh, another useless stone practice. Compared video of my sprint phase to Matt V and Dylan Armstrong's video and it would appear that I'm "reaching" with my right leg. This puts me in a poor position to keep my right turning. I need to snap my right knee in UNDER me, rather than getting my foot down so far in front of me. That's causing me to absorb the impact, slow the sprint down and land very narrow, unable to get onto my left. *rolleyes* More work.

Someone brought french fries into work today and I snapped. In-n-Out for din din plus lots of candy. We'll just say that I'm carbing up for competition this week. Justified? I think so.

10/29/12 – fsquat/cgpress & hammer

Training#1 @ 430a

Fsquat 330x4, 330x5, 330x6
Gms 225x12x3
Cgpress 280x5x3
Pullups BWx5x3
One arm DB oh ext- 35x10x3

Went right from 225 to 340 on the front squats and that was a bad idea, def need a double or triple at 275 before making that kind of a jump from now on. My back and knees just weren’t ready to support that kind of weight so soon (only 2 warmups). Excuses, meh. Cgrip presses felt good, no shoulder issues. Skipped incline press and did some internal/external rotations instead. Pullups easy, obv, no shoulder issues either. Satisfied.

Training#2 @ 630a

16# hammer winds (no release) x12-15 5 winds.
16# hammer x12 releases (3 winds)

Meh, sesh was so-so. Dunno how progressive but I just got the reps in. Focused on keeping the ball off my right side while still getting very long with my left side. Push hips back and reach on the first rep, then work the ball side to side. Lots more work needed.

Monday, October 29, 2012

10/27/12 - stone/wfd/hammer/sheaf/caber

Am weight = 273

Training @ 930a

24# standing shot x 2
22# bstone x 6, best of 38+

Watched some video of Jon O’Neil here since his Braemar is just incredible and noticed how he really pushes his right knee and hip leading his upper body. Something about the video of him doing it clicked better than watching video of other guys, despite some of the other guys maybe going a little farther. I watch MattV and several other big Bstone guys and I just can’t seem to get what they’re doing. Jon’s vid was pretty helpful. Its very apparent how he pushes his right side straight into a big block. Progress here, haven’t gone 38+ in a long time. I think I had a couple over 38 with a best of 38’10”.


16# ostone full spin x 3-4
15.5# ostone full spin x 4-6

I didn’t mark any of these, but I think I heard someone say I went 48+ with the 16. Wasn’t really paying attention. Was focusing on trying to be more rotational and less linear. Definiately achieved this, though to a larger extent than I wanted. I need the linear drive to get a solid block and get over the trig. At the same time, I need to be very rotational to keep my hips in front of the ball. One throw I nailed this perfectly. Almost nailed it on the next but just missed it and shut it down. I found that if I “hop” forward onto my right leg, I end up landing with my right foot facing 6:00. Then my right leg has to absorb the impact and wait for the left to come around before it can start turning again. In contrast, if I drive less with my left leg and focus on landing with my right facing 9:00 and pull my left around, my right never stops moving and I get fantastic separation. Dedicated stones practice tomorrow so I’m going to be spending a lot of time with this. Slow out of the back, push the left knee out and around. From there, lead with my right leg. Typically I would lead with my right leg then, hop, onto it to bring my left around. In this instance, I lead with my right leg and almost “fell” onto it. I landed with my right foot at 9:00 and focused on pushing my right knee to the ground to keep it turning, also keeping my weight on the outside of the ball of my right foot. That seemed to help it turn better as well. My hips got moving incredibly fast and everything else fell apart, but I got the feeling. Now I need to reproduce it a few hundred times. Finally, a breakthrough.




56# wfd x 6-8, best of 41
42# wfd x 4-6, best of 59
28# wfd x 4-6, best of 83

Weights went well. First 3-4 throws were just walkthroughs, feeling the position. Very slow/little sprint with good separation and sink for the finish. Started speeding it up and had a couple good tosses around 40ft, though, for some reason I was finishing early instead of finishing my push to zero. Not sure why but it was frustration. Then I went way too early with a HUGE sprint and blew out my grip off to the right side. I think the ball still went 35ft or so and almost hit a training partner, lol. Slowed it back down for a few more and was hitting easy 38-39ft so I shut it down and threw a few with the 42 for fun. Was finishing early again on these. I need to be more patient at the front when my sprint is so minimal. Took several at 57 and the best was 59’10 right down the pipe so I was pretty happy with that. A couple easy 75-77s with the 28, then a big one at 83 and a few more at 80-81. Need to remember to sink my hips for a huge drive and lift on the finish. I always forget that part with the light.


16# hammer x 6-8, 120ish
12# hammer x 2-3, 130ish

Hammer has been giving me grief lately and today was no exception. Need to focus on pulling my right elbow back as far as possible on the first wind AND pushing my butt/hips back to get my hips swiveling.


20# sheaf x 6-8

Good practice day here. Lots of effortless high throws. Focus on pushing my right hip to the left while separating and pushing the bag down, outside of my right foot. Happy with this for now. Will see what it yields in Tucson next weekend.


Small caber (17.5 x 75#) x 4-6, all easy turns

Easy easy caber. Just focused on keeping my hips low and torso up so I can get a strong drive on the stick. Also focused on dropping the caber into place on my hips BEFORE stopping for my pull. These worked very well. Was turning the caber and it was close to 80 degrees the opposite directly before the top hit the ground. Getting more confident with the caber. I like.

Friday, October 26, 2012

10/26/12 - sheaf/hwd/ostone

Am weight = 268.4

Training @ 540a

20# sheaf x 25ish
56# wfd x 20
15.5# ostone full spin x15

Sheaf went well. Just solidfying what I learned last week. Workin on separating from the bag, pushing my right hip to the left while driving the bag down to it's low point outside of my right leg, then a huge left leg block. Experimented with bag angle and worked on getting lower with my legs rather than my torso, still some more work to do here.

WFD went great. First 5 reps were miserable. Still very stiff and sore from this weeks training. By the 6th rep I was hitting positions spot on. Focused on taking a very little sprint with a huge finish. Think, 60/100 sprint/finish. Worked on separating at the front, pushing to zero and a big big lift. Definately getting these positions better. Hitting 39-40 with no sprint, solid. Afterwards I started adding in the sprint and went high 43s but then started missing the finish so I dialed it back down. Once this gets going 100% there is going to be some big tosses coming.

Ostone is still a mess for me. I feel TOO linear. Like all I'm doing is driving straight and getting no rotation or coil at all. Watched one of Dylan Armstrongs videos ALOT after practice and I know that he travels linearly in a diagonal line (perfectly, btw), however, watching the ball and his upper body, he's so rotational is ridiculous. Talking with Sroka for a bit on it and I believe it's all in my perception and mental cues. I perceive that he's pretty much all rotational with very little linear drive. My curernt throws are all linear with very little rotation. I'm going to take a step forward from the backline and work on wrapping and driving my hips while keeping a diagonal line with my feet from back to front.

Big practice tomorrow, pretty excited. Will probably hit all events, hoping we get some standards setup so I can take a few pulls on the wob. I need to spend some more time with wob. If I can get my timing right and pull longer, I've got some big tosses in my future.


Macros = ? lulz, carb day ftw

Thursday, October 25, 2012

10/25/12 - benchmark back squat & hammer

Am weight = ?

Training#1 @ 445a

back squat up to 525x1
step ups to 18" box 135x10x2
lying leg raises & russian twists x2 sets

Got to the gym late so it pushed everything back, not to mention working up to a max effort squat takes longer than a typical session. Regardless, good effort on the back squats. Certainly wasn't expecting that as I was just hoping to get 495 for a single. Hopefully I can push this up to 600 by the Phoenix games, we'll see. Def got a lot of work ahead of me this off season. I'm ready for it. Tucson is the last game of the season for me so I'm starting my next week on the 29th. I'll compete on the 4th, but I'm not going to do a full deload like usual. I'll train Mon-Wed and throw on Thursday then rest Friday and Saturday, then compete Sunday.

Training#2 @ 630a

hammers
*16#x2 + 14# x1 x12 rounds.

All 3 winds. I like going 3 times in a row before breaking. Can get in more reps and can work on things while I've got it fresh in my mind. On the downside, hammers take a lot out of me. Good thing I have the 14# hammer to finish off with. Ideally I'd love to have 2 more 16# hammers but oh well. I've got a 22 and a 20 so I'll eventually throw those in when I'm more satisfied with my tech. Few things to note today:

1) Brought stance closer.
2) Didn't stagger feet.
3) Focused on pulling my right elbow back as far as possible on 1.
4) Focused on a huge orbit vs speed.
5) Tried to get extremely long and "whippy" on 3.

Missed the finish, way too early. Need to drag through the low point before finishing big.
Going to start working just winds as drills before actually throwing as I feel that's needed to really drill the positions in consistantly. I need to be consistent at getting long and very loose on 2 and 3 so I can use my hips to drive the ball around. Lots of work on this over the next few months.



Macros? still too early, probably the same as Monday. Day 4/4 low carb, training tomorrow so I'll get a good weigh in before the carbup. Was 269 yesterday.

Wednesday, October 24, 2012

10/23/12 - deads/ppress & stone

Am weight = 270.8

Training#1 @ 430a

Deads 540x2, 485x5x2
Strict ohp 195x5x3
Push press 235x5x3
Db curls & db rows x12x2

Not a bad sesh. Trying something new out, 3x5 for 3 weeks then 3x3 for 3 weeks with deloads between. Was supposed to be 85% and 95% respectively but I think that's just too heavy. Dropping that down to the same %s but of my 90% max instead and doing a max rep for the last set. Focus will be moving the weight fast.

Training#2 @ 620a

15.5# stone
*stand x10
*south African drill x5
*full spin x15ish

Meh, not comfortable on these at all. Very stiff and mechanical. Watched video and it appears I'm not opening my left leg up all the way before sprinting and this could be affecting a good amount of the throw. Got to land, keep the right foot turning me block hard. Still so much work here.

Macros = ?

Scoop whey
.....train#1
Scoop whey
.....train#2
Scoop whey
2 cans tuna w/light mayo
2 cheeseburgers without bun, mozzarella cheese and approx 24oz skim milk

Monday, October 22, 2012

10/22/12 - benchmark fsquat/cgbench & hammer

Training#1 @ 430a

Fsquat up to 425x1
cgbench up to 365x1
incline press 135x4
pullups bw x8x3

Not bad but not great. Had more in me on the front squat but the half rack was too high for my bottom position and the regular rack was taken so I didn't want to fail and drop the weight 3 feet off the floor. Close grip bench felt good, no issues with the shoulder. Incline on the other hand wasn't a fan. Stiffened up and I didn't want to push my luck. I'll be able to get back at it soon enough. Tried to do a dip as well and no bueno. Will do some skullcrushers or overhead extensions in the meantime, still need to hammer my triceps.

Training#2 @ 630a

16# hammer x2 + 14# hammer x1 x8 rounds
*3 winds for all reps, best of 117

Couple changes:

1) staggered left foot in front of right approx 2-3". This made for a really big block on my finish and also made it easier to drive my right hip into
2) kept a focal point off my left side. When the ball came up my left side, I leaned back, eyes to the sky and arms fully extended, then as soon as I "caught" the hammer, my eyes went back to the focal point on the left. This really helped speed the ball up immediately instead of dropping then speeding it up. As the ball was falling and reached about 8:00 I would try to push my right knee in and separate from the ball to drive it harder. This was hit and miss, lots more reps required here but it felt good.
3) drag the ball on the finish. I worked on catching the ball way to my right and dragging it through its low point on the finish then a huge left side block. The finishes are feeling very good. Can't wait to get all this down and actually speed it up. Not sure if it'll be ready for Tucson, but I'll give it all I've got.

Macros = ?

Haven't really been tracking my calories. I pay attention to protein and keep my carbs low. Today's food was:

1 scoop whey
.....train#1
1 scoop whey
.....train#2
1 scoop whey
2 double cheeseburgers protein style (no bun)
5 egg omelette with about 3/4c cheddar cheese and approx 24oz skim milk

Friday, October 19, 2012

10/19/2012 - snatch/misc & sheaf

Am weight = 270.6

Training #1 @ 430a

Hang power snatch up to 155x2, bar x lots
Snatch pulls bar x lots
Pull-ups bw x6x3
Curls/db twists/leg raises

Very stiff and unmotivated this morning. Snatch felt very off and wasnt getting a good bump or any power out of it. Dropped down and focused on tech only with the bar. Focused on keeping my shoulder blades together and upper back arched. This gave me a much better bump position as week as a much stronger pull. Sweet. Going to try to work up to a higher rep scheme on pull-ups too.

Training #2 @ 620a

20# sheaf x 30-40

Great sheaf session. Learned a few things that work well for me.

1) don't put hands too far apart. Keeping them a bit closer helps with the backswing and drive. Marked my handle too.

2) drive the bag down focusing on keeping the bag to the right of my right foot. In the vid you can see it drift but the mental cue to keep it that far right helps a lot. While driving the bag down, I pushed my right knee in to separate a little from my upper body an the bag. It's very easy to allow the bag to drift left while pushing the right knee in so focus on keeping the bag on the right.

3) huge huge left leg block. Push the right knee in to separate then as soon as the bag hits its low point, huge lift with the left. At this point just follow through with the fork.

4) stagger my feet. I didn't think about this until indie it accidentally. I put my right foot about 6" behind my left but kept the same fork path. So I had to each out a little bit on my right side but the block was much stronger.

^^ this makes me wonder. Does anybody stagger their feet on the hammer?

I'll continue to practice and note my findings but so far I'm pleased with the progression. Today was very beneficial for sheaf, despite still being stiff an feeling run-down.




Macros = ? Carb day ftw

Thursday, October 18, 2012

10/18/2012 - benchmark deads/ppress/strict press & hwd

Am weight = 269.4

Training#1 @ 430a

Deads up to 635x1
Strict ohp up to 255x1
Push press up to 305x1, miss 315

Good place to start. Back and legs still sore from yesterday. Looking to push these numbers quite a bit this offseason. Shoulder gave me no hassles, though I was pretty timid on the strict presses. Going to start pushing it again next week. Need to max fsquat, incline press, close grip press, and back squat next week. Fun.

Training#2 @ 630a

56# wfd x 22ish

Nothing big here. Avg 37-38ft, just hitting positions. Focus on separating and pushing the weight to zero. Good sesh, specifically after the fatigue of deads.

Macros = meh, probably the same-ish as yesterday, day 4/4 low carb

10/17/12 - fsquat/cgbench & hammer

Am weight = ?

Training#1 @ 430a

531 fsquat (wk3) 290x5, 330x3, 370x3
Back squat 225x10, 315x5x 405x3
Gms 225x8, 225x10
531 cgbench (wk3) 255x5, 285x3, 320x1
Incline bench 135x10, 185x10
Single Db overhead extension x2

Training #2 @ 630a

20# hammer x 3 two winds
16# hammer x 6 two winds
20# hammer x 6 three winds
16# hammer x 16 three winds

Meh. Not a very beneficial session, but I suppose I'll have those every once in a while. Playing with the starting hammer position as well as 'fanning' my right blade. Starting with the hammer ball about 1ft behind my right heel seems to work pretty well. Tried fanning my right blade so I could pivot better and just couldn't move very well. Next hammer sesh I'm gonna try digging in with my right foot pointed slightly inwards. Really trying to separate from the ball and drive with my right hip. Lots of work still.

Macros = 87/77/207 (f/c/p) 1903cals, day 3/4 low carb

Been getting a little laxed with calories, allowing a little bit more carbs and fats in exchange for protein. Been thinking alot about protein requirements so going to play with that a bit and see what happens with recovery and performance.

Tuesday, October 16, 2012

10/14/12 - Seaside Highland Games (Ventura, CA)

Am weight = high 270s

Seaside Highland Games - A Class

hwd - 40'5" (1st)
lwd - 76'9" (1st)
os - 51'11.75" PR (3rd)
wob - 15' (1st)
20#sheaf - 26' (2nd)
bs - 34'8.5 (6th)
Lham - 107'6" (3rd)
Hham - 95' (1st)
caber 19.5 x 75# - 12:00 (2nd)

Overall = 1st w/ 20pts

Beat out Scott Hutchison by just one point, that's what you call a close game. He was on my heels the whole time and had some awesome clutch throws, especially considering he threw open class with the pros the day before. What the hell was my excuse? lol. Here's the event breakdown:

First up, 56# wfd. I hate throwing wfd first. You know what I hate throwing more than throwing wfd first? Hwfd.. Very tough to get warmed up. We threw in a horse corral off of platforms, so our warmups were in the dirt/sand/wood chips. I was wearing throwing shoes so the traction was absolutely nil. My first toss was 35-36ish feet, just going through positions. 2nd was 38ish and last throw was 40. Took my extras and couldn't break 40 again. Just wasn't feeling anything on that platform. Didn't help that the turf wasn't secured to the wood and kept sliding around. Excuses.

Next up was the 28# wfd. Wasn't feeling this one bit. Very tough to hit positions, no pop on the finish. Meh.. I thought I had 78' on my 2nd toss but the sheet read 76' so that's that. I took a couple extras and went high 70s again, but nothing over 80. Just kept missing the finish. This is unacceptable. I need to be 40/80 with my eyes shut. Moving on.

Next up was the ostone. It was a pretty little stone that tucked very nice. With Josh McClure and Scott Hutch there, I had my work cut out for me. I had only 1 solid practice with the newest technique change so I was a bit ancy. Regardless, my first toss was a PR at 51'11.75". I saw 52' on the tape but lol whatevs. 2nd was high 48 and 3rd was 44 as the turf was bunching up and I just couldn't separate. Hutch smoked a nice 52'7 for the win and took some extras but wasn't able to better it. He's got some really big tosses in there when he dials it in consistantly.

Now..................we break for lunch, um... yeah, right? It was 11:40 and we had to be off the field by 12:00 so that they could bring the cannons out. Funny, because the cannons didn't come out until 12:20ish. They split the A group up into 2 groups, one group with 6 peeps and one group with 9 or 10. I was in the 9 or 10 group. So we didn't have time to do Braemar before lunch. We came back from lunch at 1:15, however, they were doing the Haggis toss so we really didn't get started until closer to 1:30-1:40ish.

First up after lunch: WOB. Bar started at 11ft. I came in at 12 to dial in accuracy. Accuracy has been an issue for me this year so I wanted to take a couple extra. Hit and knocked off the bar on the way down (out front) at 12 on my first attempt. That's ok because I knew where I needed to stand now. The biggest thing was that my tech felt good and I had a good long pull. So my foot positioning is the only thing I needed to change. Came in closer about 6" and boom, way over 12 and peaked right at the bar. No worries. Cleared 13, 14 and 15 on my first toss. Everyone else went out at 15. I was hoping to go for 16 for a season best as I was about 15'6" on my 15' toss with nothing on it. Since we were rushed we went right to sheaf.

20# sheaf was fun. I've been toying with a new follow through type style and I find it really effective, however, I need to practice it some more. Also was using a Cleavenger fork and I must say, that's a nice fork. Thinking about picking one up, I like. Anyways, bar started at 18' and was moving up 2' at a time. Ugh.. That's a lot of throws. I came in at 18 just because I need the practice as well as figuring out my accuracy with the new technique. I missed my first at 18' as I was out 4 paces and came down in front of the bar. Went out to 3 paces for the next one and was solid, though it still peaked in front of the bar. Next up, 2.5 paces out. As far as left/right, I went all the way to the left side of the standards then took a small step to the left so I was pretty much right in front of the left side of the standards. As far as tech is concerned, I was watching a bunch of vids. Specifically, Craig Smith's 25# sheaf WR and Frasure's enormous WR. I noticed how they separate their hips and drive the bag down their right side (Frasure's left because he holds the fork with his right). From there I freeze framed and could see how their right knee pushes in while the bag is still on the right side, then a HUGE left leg block is employed, almost exactly like the hammer. The upper torso is thrown backwards and sideways and the fork is allowed to follow through. No worries with a "late" block on your arm, just follow it through. By the time I was at 24' it was solid. I was close to 30' each shot at that point. 26' was cake and the bar was raised to 28'. Now my head got involved. First at 28' the bottom of the bag clipped the bar and bounced back forward. 2nd at 28' the bag came down on the bar and bounced back forward. 3rd at 28' and I clipped the bag on my right knee and it went nowhere. Oh well, no worries. I know what I've got to do now. I'm going to drill the shit out of sheaf and get that tech where it needs to be. I want to take a shot at the am WR in Tucson. Just got to keep it together.

After sheaf we went to braemar while the group that already did breamar started on heavy hammer. I was feeling very sluggish by now as all I've had all day was a couple protein shakes. I really don't like to eat at the games, but I need to figure something out as it just kills my afternoon performance. I was lucky to get out to 34'. I had one that felt great, but just didn't go anywhere. I need to be 38-40' every time, this is pathetic. Ended up taking 6th in this event. I'm embarrassed.

Next up was hammer. They put a metal bar down for us to use our blades but at this point it was 4:30pm and I didn't feel like changing so I just used my tennis shoes. I started warming up with heavy hammer and it felt awful. Just couldn't get long or fast. Feet were all over the place and overall no power. Then I was told we were doing light hammer.. what? whatever.. moving on. I grabbed the 16# hammer and chucked it out a WHOPPING 84 FEET.. Hellz yeah, PR central, lol. Next shot was 96ish. By now I'm sitting in 6th or so and I had no energy to get after it so I ran back and grabbed my blades. I know, pulled the bitch card right? Put the blades on and went 107 on my last toss for 3rd place. Hutch inched me out by 2" and Adam Brezina took the win with 110ft. He was so excited, you'd have thought that was the first time he's ever gotten to take extras, hahaha.

22# hammer next and the other half of the A group had moved onto caber. Meanwhile, we sat around for about 20 minutes waiting for some judging issue to resolve itself. By now, half of my group had dropped out because they were exhausted and done. My first toss with the 22 hammer was 89ft which put me in first over the other group and ours. My 2nd toss was 95ft and I called it there. Passed my 3rd and took the win with 95ft. Dropped the blades and put the tennies back on for caber.

Caber up, 19.5ft at 75lbs. Gonna be honest, I was intimidated. Sticks over 19ft are tough for me. My timing is off and my pulls have just been very weak lately. I've been working a handful of times with caber and tuning things up. Took my first pick, nice and easy. Sunk my hips, straightened my torso and drove like crazy. Got it moving pretty fast, stuck my feet and pulled hard and it turned like clockwork, though, I have no idea what it was, haha. 2nd turn was 11:30 and third was 12:00. Very happy. Hutch pulled a 12:15 and a 12:00 for the win so I took 2nd.

Overall was 1st and I'm pleased with that. We finished up at about 5:30-5:45ish. I think by the end of the day there was only 4 guys left in my group as everyone was just done so that last couple events went much faster and smoother, lol. My prize was a kilt, easily the coolest prize to date. I'm going to wear it in Tucson.

Thanks to Brandon Goodman, the AD, for having us out there and just being a cool dude. Despite all the issues we had, it was still a fun day with a fun crowd. The sheaf crowd itself was worth it. Very fun. SAAA could've handled things better but they did what they could with what they had and really tried to fix things at the end of the day. I can respect that. After all was said and done we got out of there at about 6:30pm. Stopped to get some food on the way back so we got on the road at about 7:30. Now the crappiest part about the whole weekend. The 8.5 hour drive home. I pulled in my garage at 4:00am and was supposed to be at work at 8:30am. That didn't happen. Ended up going in at about 10:30 but was exhausted all day.

Big thanks to Adam Brezina and Ed Brown for riding out to the games and hanging out and sharing cost with me. Same goes to Jake Nicol for riding back with Adam and I. I've made friends in my short tenure as a thrower that I'll never forget. Grats to Jake for taking 2nd at LW Worlds. Grats to Adam for taking 3rd in the A group. You're becoming a strong thrower, keep up the hard work. Grats to Scott for pushing me a bit harder than I am used to and had a lot of fun with him. Big big thanks go to Tod Stewart of Stewart & Torgerson Injury Law (1800ourlawyer.com) for contining to sponsor the team. Without his support, I wouldn't be going to half of the games I do. I really appreciate you making that possible for me and the team. So, anyone who is reading this, go wreck your car and give him a call.. haha... just kidding........................................... or am I?

Rest up monday and tuesday, back to the grind on Wednesday. Tucson coming up quick on 11/4. More work needs to be done. Improvements need to be made, excuses need to stop. Eyes on the prize.

ps, no video. I forgot my tripod at home and didn't wan't to be "that guy" who asks everyone to video my every throw.

Friday, October 12, 2012

10/11/12 - stone/wfd/sheaf

Am weight = O_o

Training#1 @ 445a

4k indoor shot
*stand x10
*full spin x25

Getting the reps in, very slow, but going well.



Training#2 @ 615a

20# sheaf x15
56# wfd x15, avg 37
28# wfd x15, avg 78

sheaf feeling ok, need more pop and more block. Tend to bend over when driving down to my right foot, need to stay up and drive my hips down rather than drive my torso down.. some work to be done here.

Just going through positions on wfd, feeling smoother. Pushign the weight away from me into it's low point out of the back feels much smoother. After the first turn I'm in a great position to drive to zero, however, after the second turn I'm a bit late on the catch. Need to separate better and get faster feet. Taking the next couple days off before Ventura to rest up. Ice bath saturday night, lots of stretching and foam rolling.

10/10/12 - wfd

Am weight = 273

Training @ 615a

56# wfd x20ish, avg 40
28# wfd x10ish, avg 77

Working on pushing the weight away from me in the back, I've found that I have almost no drift forward during the first turn when I do this. Win. From there, push the weight to zero and get a slingshot affect, accelelrating the ball through it's low point. From there, separate, catch, big lift. Nothing really new here, just getting reps in.

Same thing with the 28 but it's moving much faster. Trying to separate a bit more at the front so I can accellerate through the low piont and get a big lift. Feeling kind of worn down, not much 'pop' behind these. Lots at 77ft, couple at 78, one or two at 75-76.

Macros = ? done counting for the week

Wednesday, October 10, 2012

10/9/12 - deads/pp & stone

Am weight = 272.6

Training#1 @ 430a

531 deads (wk2) 405x3, 460x3, 520x6
531 push press (wk2) 200x3, 225x3, 255x5
Rdls 315x8x2
Strict ohp 135x8, 135x10
Pullups bwx5x3
Lawnmower rows 115x8x3

Good session. Shoulder is feeling good. Got on the dip rack and lowered myself down and there is still some pain so going to stray away from that for a while. Deads went well, had more in the tank but don't want to empty the tank. Push press was no issues, looking forward to progressing here again.

Training#2 @ 1230p

15.5# stone
*stand x8
*180 foot work drill
*south african footwork drill
*south african w/stone x8, blegghhhhhhhhh
*south african footwork drill
*full spin footwork
*full spin x18-20

Stands felt really good. Need to remember to open my left arm as my left foot is coming down and keep my right shoulder back as far as possible for much separation. Was all over the place on the spins. Feeling very stiff and sore and it just wasn't working. I watched some vids of Dylan Armstrong and some other spinners and took now how they lead through the spring phase with their heel. Hmmm.. gave this a shot and balance was all over the place, BUT, it kept my right foot turning. Took a few more ugly reps and popped a couple in the 47-49 range, almost hitting 50 while still falling all over the place. Need to dial in the timing and balance of this new change but this is going to be awesome once I get it working. Back to the grindstone.





Macros = blegh. Only had 2 shakes all day and was running late to meet my family for a VeggieTales concert. Stopped at the in-laws and boom, pizza was available. 6 slices and 1/2 gallon of milk later I felt much better. Whatevs. 

Tuesday, October 9, 2012

10/8/12 - fsquat/cgbench & hammer

Am weight = 279

Training#1 @ 430a

531 fsquat (wk2) 270x3, 310x3, 350x4
Back squat 225x10, 245x10, 275x10
Gms 225x10x3
Cgbench up to 275x3
Incline bench 135x10x4
Skip dips

Skip stationary bike

Fsquat was miserable. Training so early is taking some time to get used too. Shoulder feeling better but could still feel it on the incline presses. Got to stay more upright on the front squats as the bar was really pushing down I my wrists.

Training#2 @ 1230p

16# hammer
*2 wind x 20ish, best 113

No big tosses here, just working the right hip drive. Watching lots of videos of Vierra and Larry Brock, their right knee and their finish specifically. Brock is very exaggerated with the right knee. I can see how he shoves his right knee hard to the left and then pushes his hip to accellerate the ball. For the finish he does this then there is a massive block that slingshots the shit out of the hammer. This is what I'm looking for. Getting close, but with the way I have my feet setup (toes pointing out) it's hard to drive the right knee in very much. Next practice I'm going to play with my right foot positioning. Going to try a few with my left toes pointing out and my right pointing slightly in, then try a few with my left toes pointing out and my right toes pointing straight then I'll watch vid and assess. I'm not looking for distances right now, just solely focusing on my finish. Once I get this down then I'll work on getting long and making the ball fast. I think this right knee thing is going to be big though when it comes to making the ball faster. Looking forward to results. Talked to Ryan Vierra via fb pm and he said he actually digs out his right foot so that he can pivot, rather than having it stuck in the ground. Going to give this a shot. I think this pivot and right knee drive is going to be huge with the hammer. Lots of little things are starting to come together. Hopefully they'll come together for the Tucson games, but if not I'll have one hell of an opener in Phoenix next year, haha.



Macros = 58/57/242 (f/c/p) 1727cals, day 1/4 low carb