Uncategorized – Training with Pankow

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.

I started training with Pankow Performance on August 1st, 2015. When I started, I was at 257 lbs and about 29% body fat. For my last contest, I weighed in at 220.4 lbs, and my last caliper measurements put me at just over 20% body fat. More important than the weight or fat loss was the increase in confidence and self-esteem, while also being shown I am not the strongest person in the room…by a long shot.

During these months and contests, I have had to push myself to or beyond what I thought my body could handle. Sometimes, I have been successful, like with the 275 lbs/hand farmer’s carry at Motor City’s Strongest Man, and sometimes, I did as well/poorly as expected.

At this latest competition, I learned a few valuable lessons:

Prepare for everything. I was sure that the contest weights were light enough, especially on stones, so I didn’t practice stones, instead I focused on circus dumbbell and farmer’s carry. My failure to prepare was preparing to fail, as I didn’t record a single rep. At the competition, I couldn’t launch the stone from my chest over the bar. Had I practiced, I would have likely recorded one.
Be aware of surroundings. In the circus dumbbell, I stood on rubber mats that I thought had been placed as a staging area; however, they were intended to protect the bell and the parking lot from each other between reps. Had I been aware of their purpose and impact they had on my lift, I would have stepped off the mat and performed the event. I might have recorded one more rep.
Get over annoyances quickly. I let a minor irritation in one event mess with my mind and also my performance. There was nothing I could do to fix it by thinking about it; rather, the lack of focus on the task at hand was more of a hindrance than a help.

Strongman has been a great sport, and I look forward to competing for years to come. Besides the fun, the gains in strength, and the many friendships I have developed, the requirements of meeting weight classes have given me a continuous goal for weight management or weight loss. As I transition from open divisions to masters divisions, the weight classes become a little less restrictive, but I intend to maintain weight for the 220 class, as it will serve me better in life and for the occasional contest that doesn’t offer a master’s division.

May you find a hobby or sport that brings you as much joy as strongman has done for me.

Here are few pictures from the latest contest on April 23rd: