I just had an amazing day of competition yesterday. Several weeks ago, I saw the Illinois’ Strongest Man contest hosted by Dave Daly included a Viking Press, which was something I had always wanted to try, so I signed up for the competition. I wasn’t sure how the competition would go for me, but as always, I knew I would have a great time. I didn’t expect to win the Master’s Division. Though there were 2 competitors, I thought my chances were less than 50/50.

To help prepare for the contest, Dave Pankow of Pankow-Performance helped create a make-shift Viking Press to give me a feel for the event. Since each apparatus is different, it is impossible to perfectly replicate the event, but it was good enough to give me confidence. We also continued to work on deadlifts, and my boot camp training with Fitness Revolution of Wixom helped me with my speed, which is what helped me win the final 2 events and the overall division.

My competitor, Dennis, was outstanding. He beat me by 1 rep on the Viking Press and by 17 feet on the Conan’s Wheel. On the Viking Deadlift, he pulled the 12th rep just after time expired, or he would have tied me on the deadlift. Fortunately for me, he was credited with 11, but I knew it wasn’t by much.

The final two events, Farmer’s Carry and the Yoke/Keg medley, were what provided the win for me. The weight on the farmer’s was light enough to just grab and go, which helped on the turn, but I only won by 0.3 seconds. Dennis had been very fast. On the Yoke/Keg medley, I believe the time difference was less than a second, and the difference was likely a slight bobble Dennis had with the yoke half-way down the run.

Here is a compilation video of the events:

The event was fun, all the competitors were friendly, helpful, and encouraging, and to walk away with my first time winning my division felt wonderful, though after the car ride home, I couldn’t wait to hop into my Finnleo infrared sauna and my Amerec steam shower to help me recover.

Now, I need to prepare for Nationals in Las Vegas on September 16th & 17th. I will see Dennis there again, and I know I have a ton of training to do to stay competitive with him.