Irish Strength, the unorthodox strongman log

Alright guys, a little rundown on me I started training 3 years ago, right after my 16th birthday. I started out doing BW exercises like pushups and counter-top dips because I had no gym access or weights. Without weights and with BW exercises, I dropped my BW from 165 and 18% BF to 152 and 12% BF. From that moment, I was hooked. I started looking on the net and found out about "THE PLANCHE". That was my first and only goal. It managed to fall by the wayside as I found PLing, Strongman and Grip strength training. I have a renewed interest in my original goal to attain "THE PLANCHE". Like many who come here, I have no idea how to proceed. I would greatly appreciate some advice on the progressions. I have always been amazed by Gymnists and the incredible strength they possess and I fully plan on doing all I can to achieve the same state.

Alright, onto the #'s.

I am 5'8 and 185lbs.

I have never done a muscle up, but I everytime I have tried I failed only because my right elbow couldn't get over the bar First attempts were on rings, second attempt was on a Pullup bar. I will get this in no time flat.

I've done 10 Pistols each leg, not too difficult. I've also done a pistol hop onto a 2ft coffee table. HARD. I've also done a Pistol with a BW+24kg Kettlebell righty and just fell down lefty.

I'm not much for pullups but I'm hitting them hard now. I can do BW for a few sets of 10 fresh and as much as BW+75 for a decent rep now. I've been working my up 2.5lbs at a time doing 3x3 with wide grip chins and 3x3 narrow grip pullups. I'm up to BW+35 for both 3x3's. Oh, and I can do a middle finger(with both hands) chin with an added 75lbs

I've pulled 2.25xBW, 440lbs, and C&J'd 200lbs (I don't work that much) I've snatched BW when my BW was 75kg. I cannot do my BW right now but I haven't trained the snatch in months.

As far as specific core work, I've done an L-sit walk for 2ft and failed because I can't figure out how to move my arms(my butt keeps bouncing off the ground :oops: ) I'm good for at least one perfect Dragon flag rep. The rest usually end up with my legs straight but still bent about 25-35 degrees. I used to be a pretty good horseshoe bender. Bending Hshoes requires tremendous core strength and total body tension since the shoe is placed on the hips for the crushdown. I also am an unbraced steel bender. If you've ever visited THE DIESEL CREW, you know what I'm talking about there. Again, that requires tremendous shoulder strength, total body tension, and a little bit of flexibility.

My squat stinks, I've got a nice thin layer of fat covering everything right now too.

Alright, my most recent workout.

OHP Strict

120x5

C&J

140x3

170x1

190x1

200x0(SO DAMNED CLOSE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!)

190x1

130x5 form work

On that missed 200, I went deep for the split jerk and held the weight overhead. My problem is locking out my arms ironically. My elbows actually hyperextend naturally as far as 20 degrees and lockout has never been an issue. I'm finding more and more that during heavy OHPressing, my "lockout" has been only slightly outside of fully locked. I need to work on that.

CGBP

135x10

155x5

185x5

205x2

205x2

185x5

155x5

Decline CGBP

135x10

185x5

205x4

Wide Grip Pullups

BWx10

Some one handed hangs

BWx30 R for 2 sets

BWx20 L for 2 sets(only because my left hand was slightly sweatier and I never use chalk for this. I will do so next time.)

H-Rolls with 20's for 2 sets

Alright, I was going to try something new with squats and do some heavy volume, BUT after the 20 repper I decided against it.

Warm ups

135x5 Front Squat

10 pistols with each leg, not too difficult

Back Squat

185x20(could've done 225 in this for sure)

Front Squat

185x5

135x5 paused for 2 seconds

135x10

An attempt at a 135lb overhead squat, got halfway up and had to dump it. Odd movement but it felt strong.

My legs were actually sore by this time :oops: To think, these pathetically weak legs helped 440 off the floor.

I did some unbraced bending today.

I took down the following:

3/8x8" HRS

3/8x7.5" HRS

515 Bastard

515 Big bastard

Did some minor overhead stuff today.

Strict press

135x5

155x3

Push Press

185x5

Split jerk

205x1(PR)

215xclose

205xmiss

185xmiss

Push jerk

185x1

I also did a few nice and solid tuck planches for about 5 seconds a piece. Did a few presses to handstands from the tuck planche and almost had the full handstand after one attempt. It seems I have more than enough shoulder strength to press into a handstand that way but I lack the balance and cannot yet do a sturdy handstand.

One arm DB press

75x4

CGBP

135x10

155x5

185x5x5

Wide grip pullups to sternum

BWx5

BWx5

BWx5

Weighted Chins

BW+45x3

One handed holds R/L

BW+45x7/6 sec

BW+45x8/6 sec

Two handed holds

BW+45x50 sec

I assumed the BW rowing position on the Pullup bar and did some right side up to upside down flips back and forth with knees tucked. These hit my shoulders in a great way! I will be doing more of these for sure.

2 Tuck planche holds for maybe 3 seconds

H-rolls with 20's for 3 sets of w/ever

I'm finding it easier and easier to do the press to handstand also. I actually find it easier to attempt handstands when I attempt to press into one from a tuck planche. Now to actually do a sturdy handstand.

Took a 304 SS 5/16x6" bolt to 2 3/8 today. My PR on this type of bolt was 3", and before that it was 3 5/8". So I've made some BIG TIME progress on my crush.

Did some DEADLIFTS!!! today.

DoubleOver 2.5" Axle DEADLIFTS!!!

123x5

173x5

193x5

213x5

DEADLIFTS!!!

385x5

405x1

455x0

DoubleOver Olympic bar DEADLIFTS!!!

325x5

365x5

385x to the knees

Front hammer deadlifts

6lb from 31" x1 RH only

several lifts from 28" left and right

Blobs

40lbxa bunch of lifts and some lifts without pinky

Dips

BWx16

BWx12

4 Pike holds, 2 of them for at least 3 seconds

Slim levers from a flat rubber pad(no drop down so it's all wrist torque)

8lb from 36"x1 each arm

6lb from 31"x2 each arm

Hi Zach,

I see you bend (spikes?), do you do any phone book ripping?I ask because I am interested in it (and a little in bending) do you know any good places to start?

Thanks,

Ed

ed x said:

Hi Zach,

I see you bend (spikes?), do you do any phone book ripping?I ask because I am interested in it (and a little in bending) do you know any good places to start?

Thanks,

Ed

I know quite a place to start. Check out www.gripboard.com You'll need to register to view, and check out the "Bending" section. There are 2 kinds of bending, "Braced" and "Unbraced". I do both but for now I am focusing on Unbraced because I have a grip competition coming up with it as an event.

If you check out Gripboard, you'll find that us benders, especially those that like to bend braced, will bend anything. Spikes, Horseshoes, Steel bars, big bolts, wrenches, etc, etc. If it will pose a challenge, we will bend it. With braced, you can "brace" the steel against your body and bend the steel using any means. Do whatever you can to gain leverage except brace it against the ground.

Braced-8"+

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0a4GAFe_jPI

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UmOz1I3A ... re=related

Unbraced-3"-8"

There are actually 3 techniques to be used in Unbraced bending.

Double Overhand, take it until the inside edges are 2" apart, you have 5 minutes total for time.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=riJJ1nhwjvA

Double Underhand, take it to 40 degrees in 30 seconds

Reverse, take it to 40 degrees in 30 seconds

With Phonebooks, I'm no expert I've torn some decent size books and started some bigger ones. There are 2 techniques for that as well.

The Grip 'n Rip, I actually can't do this technique :oops: I stink at it, it takes greater hand strength and is called the "legitimate" rip technique.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ktSam3uJoks

The "Popping" technique (if you do it right, you'll here a "POP") Called the "cheat" technique as well Really though, no one cares

Check out this video from Clay Edgin

Again, you can get some detailed info from Gripboard.com. If you make it over there, shoot me a PM. My username there is "MalachiMcMullen"

Did some more bending these past few days.

I took down an 8" piece of 303 stainless and a 515 Bastard on Saturday.

Today I took down a 7" piece of 304 Stainless and an 8" and a 7" piece of .323 W-1 Drill Rod.

I'm disappointed in the Drill Rod. It's not as tough as I had hoped it would be. Next order will be .348 stock.

Alright, was supposed to be a pressing workout but wasn't feeling it today. Didn't stop me from setting 3 PRs though

OHDBPress

75x3/3 no leg drive

Weighted wide grip pullups

BW+35x4

BW+35x4

BW+35x4(close grip chins)

BW+10x7

BW+10x3

Muscle upxfailed

The pullup bar at the Y I go to is in a really confined space so I can't kick my legs out or swing very much at all without hitting something. Any muscle up I attempt here has to be from a straight and explosive pullup. Perhaps this should've been first

Did my flipping around on the pullup bar again, same as last week. I really like the way this hits my shoulders. It really hits all the little stabilizers and especially the core muscles that I have been neglecting as of late.

Sternum pullups from a 2" angled square bar

BWx3

BWx3

BWx3(chins)

Dragon Flagx1 Then maybe 5 or 6 negatives held at 45 degrees or lower(mostly 45 though). It seems that I can do ONE perfect dragon flag but once I go down from it I'm toast. I can't but hop my arse up off the bench So I bend at the hips a little and do negatives and holds. These are great!!!

I managed 2 good pike holds but I can't really "hold" it for more than 3 or 4 seconds at most

CGBP

135x10

225x3(PR)

235x1(PR)

205x5(PR)

After all of that was done with, I went home for one more bend. I did a 6.5" piece of .323 W-1. Tough bend, but could go shorter fresh.

Thanks for the info Zach. I will head over to GripBoard (once my internets back to full speed). have asked a couple of questions over at dragondoor on phonebook ripping (to Adam Glass) and I got told dennis roggers was an authority on it.

Anyway thanks again,

Ed

ed x said:

Thanks for the info Zach. I will head over to GripBoard (once my internets back to full speed). have asked a couple of questions over at dragondoor on phonebook ripping (to Adam Glass) and I got told dennis roggers was an authority on it.

Anyway thanks again,

Ed

No problem! I'm a big fan of Adam's as well. I was, at one point in time, a better horseshoe bender than he 8)

And yes, Dennis Rodgers is the man to talk to about phone books

Well, I've had my hands full with the US Grip Championships last weekend. I came in 12 out of 13. The guy who came in 13th beat me in every event except the last one, reverse bending. He managed to bomb out and I got the bare minimum. The scoring system was such that it heavily rewarded those who could lift much more than the other competitors but punished severely those who did not place in an event. If it was regular strongman scoring, the placings would've been very different.

Other than that, I did some bending after the competiton. I managed to take down a Shiny Bastard(5/16x7 303 Stainless) and a Golden Hex(3/8x7" Brass Hex) which were elite bends not too long ago.

Oh, and I hearted a St. Croix #2 Lite Rimmed horseshoe

http://www.gripboard.com/uploads/121971 ... 431263.jpg

Had a light workout today. Partly by choice, partly by happenstance. My wrist started giving me shootin pains during the bench when I applied pressure on it, so I strentched it out really well and went back to it without incident. My R elbow is starting to give me grief in the form of tendonitis. Now I remember how much fun shoe bending was

CGBP

135x10

205x3

205x3

205x3

205x3

225x1 Tough

Wide grip pullups(palms away from body) on 2" thick tilted square bar

BWx8 easy

BWx3 easy

Wide grip bench

205x3

Flat bench

205x3 with slight pause on the last 2

205x3 paused for 1 second at the bottom(spotter counted)

225x5

Overhead press

120x5

140x3 Push press

Elbow started giving me grief

Sternum Chinups(palms facing body) I went nice and slow from a complete dead hang until my chest and front delts touched the bar

BWx5

BWx5

The Sternum Chins were actually pretty darned easy

Now home to ice my forearms...

I also had a go at some Hardware store 303, much harder than any Shiny stock. Took a 7" piece from Banana shape to the beginning of a full kink at 35 degrees from straight.

I went after an 8", 7.5" and 7" piece of .339 0-1 DR. I finished all but the 7" piece which is stuck at 4 3/8.

I just found 2 old Huge Bastards from an older batch. I decided, despite what my body is telling me, to take a crack at one. I'm not sure what batch but it wasn't a 515. It was, dare I say, easy. I remember getting those MFKers stuck at 90 or a hair past and getting mega pissed. They were from the easy batch back then too. This one went down slow, moving a small bit on every hit at and past 90, but I've been focusing on 7-8" stuff for awhile so I was unfamiliar with the shorter stock.

Alright, did some pressing and shoulders today.

OHDBPress

70x3/3 strict easy

Wide grip bench

135x10

205x5

CGBP

225x1(did 3 but the spotter had to help right off the chest on the last 2; Wasn't feeling CG today so I went to normal grip)

Flat Bench

245x1(easier than usual)

225x3

225x3

225x3

Decline bench

235x3

205x8(most reps I've ever done with 200+ I think)

Wide grip pullups

BW+35x4(just too heavy today)

BW+25x3

BW+25x3

BW+25x3

Weighted Hangs

BW+55x45 seconds(could've gone longer, just wasn't able to deal with the pain today)

Some one arm hangs on the unknurled portion of the bar also for 15s R and 10s L

Pullups and Chins on a 2" tilted Sq. bar

2 or 3 Chins with BW+55(this is with the palms facing me)

I did some rotations while hanging onto the bar. I was focusing on getting my torso straight and I'm going to continue extending my legs from the fetal position outward. I definitely feel more confident in the positions required for a front and rear lever. I'm just not strong enough to do both just yet. I definitely feel stronger setting up for a rear lever and can extend my legs farther also.

I forgot to do H-rolls and I'm kicking myself for doing so. No matter how much work I do for my shoulders, those H-rolls really finish the job. Nothing quite like higher rep H-rolls to completely blast/annihilate/destroy/whatever your shoulders.

Onto some stretches and food. I think I'm going to do deadlifts this week also. Lets see if I can rep 405 this time.

Did some good ole fashioned tearing today. I'm really going to hammer my tearing these next two weeks or so. I can't seem to start phonebook tears the "easy" way you see a lot of people do it but I can consistently start them the "hard" way that requires more hand and wrist strength.

I started 2 phonebooks and some directories using the grip 'n rip technique(the "hard" way) and got 3/4 of the way through all of them before my technique totally fell apart and the tear stopped

I finally tore a good 52 card deck as well. I seem to mix techniques a lot and if I could stop doing that and pick one to use then I could actually finish a deck quick. I'm still a little bit off a full lengthwise tear but I put a good scare into a deck that way. Also tore 4 1/2 decks in 20-30 card bunches. Now I have two blisters from those darned cards.

Did some blockweight work today as well. I had a few lifts with the 32.5 York and a bunch of negatives and a few drags with the 40 york. I can now break it from the ground when I'm feeling strong!

Had another benching and shoulder day.

Decline bench

185x6

225x5

235x5(PR)

255x3(PR)

275x1(PR)

Flat bench

225x3

Wide grip bench

205x5

210x5

215x3

Wide grip Sternum Pullups

BWx5

BWx5

BWx3 and 2 reps didn't touch chest to bar

Some rotations and front/back lever work.

Some Dragon flag negatives and 1 ugly rep.

Weighted Chins

BW+35x3

BW+35x2(just too heavy for today)

Sternum Chins

BWx5

BWx5 slow reps

1 One Arm Chin(OAC) neg with each arm. It was little more than a resisted fall, but it was something.

Tried some wrist curls but my R wrist was cracking and was actually painful so I stopped. These were done over the knees and I think that next time I'll do them over a bench and see if it makes a difference.

Just so you all know how pathetic my legs and conditioning are for a 185lb 5'8" guy, I just did 100 BW squats in 5 sets of 20 and it was hard

I tore 3 license plates today. 1 steel and 2 aluminum ones. The steel one was by far the easiest to start but by far the hardest to actually tear apart. The aluminum ones like to fold over on themselves making starting the tear extremely difficult, for me at least. The aluminum ones tear apart like tissue paper though so they balance out.

I took down an 8"x5/16 Grade 5 bolt today. The 7"x5/16" G5 is known as the "Edgin" because Clay Edgin was the first guy to bend them. The 7"x3/8" G5 is known as a Gaz. These things are no joke and a 7" version takes 565lbs to move 30 degrees from straight. That's why I'm working on an 8" version which probably takes somwhere around 500 and ramps up a bit on the crush down.

Anyway, I took down the 8" Edgin with decent speed and went after a 7.5" version right after it. I cheated a bit on the 7.5" and still managed to get it stuck at 3.75". Oh well. I'm still edging closer and closer to the real deal 7" Edgin which would be a very elite level in unbraced bending.

I finished that 7.5" Edgin stuck at 3 3/4. It sits now just past 1 3/4. That was earlier in the day. Just a few minutes ago I went after the real deal 7" Triangle brand Edgin and got it stuck at 102 degrees or 4 3/8. It was a 20ish minute ordeal to take it that far from straight and each hit was basically an iso with several hits not moving the bar at all. My goal is to bend one of these on Oct. 4th at the Backyard Bastard Bash grip/strongman contest where unbraced bending is an event. Bending this bar would put me solidly into the top 10 in that event and quite possibly in the top 5.

Just did 100 BW squats in sets of 30, 30, 20, 20. Getting easier.

Went after 2 bends today. I attacked a 7.5" Edgin and only wobbled it. That pissed me off quite well and so instead of a piece that was tough to kink, I went for a piece that was tough to crush. I wrapped up a 7.5" piece of Hardware 303 and had at it. This stuff inch for inch is harder than an Edgin, hands down. The kink wasn't bad all, the crush is what really becomes psychotic. I took a 7.5" Edgin from 3 3/4 to 1 3/4 in 3 hits last Tuesday. Taking this Hardware 303 piece from 3 3/4 to 2" took much longer, and many many many more hits. It only moved 1/32 with each hit but I still think I managed to finish it in under 10 minutes. It was about 1/4" off center but that always seems to make my crush technique more comfortable. After that whole ordeal, I was still upset over my lack of kink ability today so I attacked that 7.5" Edgin again. Probably 7-10 hits took it to 35ish degrees in maybe 5 minutes.

Oh yeah, I also did another 100 BW squats. This time it was 40, 30, 30.