Tag: rest

Going To Master’s Nationals In Las Vegas

Posted on by Craig Lahti

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.

4 Weeks of Growth: Lessons Learned So Far

Posted on by Craig Lahti
Pankow-Performance Arm Pull
Some Friday Training at Pankow-Performance

It has been 4 weeks since I started training with Dave, and I have gained much more than muscle. Each workout, I learn more about myself physically and psychologically. Both of these will help me become a better person and strongman competitor.

1st Lesson: Rest,Relax, & Recover.

Before I started, Dave told me that I needed to stop doing my 4 mile walks/runs every day at lunch time, as I wasn’t allowing my body to recover. At first, it was difficult for me to accept that I was harming myself by doing more exercise, but after a week of resting when not in the gym, I found my workouts were more consistent and stronger in the gym. Because my workouts were stronger and more consistent, my body has been responding with gained strength and definition. Also, I am more confident in my ability to produce because I have respected my body’s needs.  Last Sunday, I tested my limits by doing a gym workout Friday, Strongman workout Saturday, and an obstacle/mud run with a 25 lb backpack of bricks on Sunday.  My performance on my Monday morning workout was week, and my body was sore and poorly recovered all week,

In work and other parts of life, it will serve me well to remember that working many hours and submitting the same quality and quantity of work as I would if I take time to rest does not benefit anybody. I may think I am perceived as a hard worker for putting in extra hours, but time without productivity (or worse hindering productivity) is not admirable.

2nd Lesson: Slow down, Focus on Form, & Listen to My Body

Coming into training, I knew my form would be one of the areas with which I would need assistance, as I had seldom practiced lifts like the deadlift or squat. I figured I would be fine with the bench press, but I learned there is much more than picking things up and putting them down.

Given that I am naturally strong, most of my life I have been able to lift things, though the form would not be approved by most.  Letting my ego and natural strength drive me, I have a difficult time really evaluating what work capacity is appropriate for me. While I can physically lift most of the weights I put on the bar, I am learning to back away from the weight and the ego to find a challenging weight that is light enough for me to focus on proper form with each repetition. This Saturday, I finally backed off on pressing events to allow myself some successful lifts, and on the car deadlift, I asked to take off 50 lbs so I could end the day with a good lift. I must continue to practice this as it will allow me to enjoy the sport much longer than if I push myself and injure myself.

In life, I must know when to say when. Whether for work or personal relationships, it is okay to say “no” or “I am at my limit.” It will allow me to be a better employee and friend if I know my limitations and clearly express them to others. I will be better at the things I agree to do, and others will h

ave better understanding of when I might need help.

3rd Lesson: Set a Goal and Don’t Do Things Detrimental to the Goal

My goal for the competition is simple: complete 1 successful lift on each event. If I perform better, great, but goals of placing higher will be for future competitions.

While I have been observing the rest, relax, and recover instructions, I learned that completing the obstacle/mud run was counterproductive to my goal because it prevented me from training as hard and as well as I could have on Monday. I ran the event since I had paid for it months before, but now I know that for the next 4 weeks, my extra activities need to either be neutral or beneficial to my goal. I cannot afford to be working against myself.

In life, when I have a deadline or goal to achieve, I need to stop taking on extra work until my goals are met, unless it can be done in a way that doesn’t interfere with my work. Working with others on projects that achieve mutual goals is great, but offering to help do work to be a nice guy doesn’t meet my obligations.

While there are many more lessons that have been learned, these three have sounded the loudest over the weeks, and I am sure they will repeat for the rest of my life.

Take Time To Breathe

Posted on by Craig Lahti
Yin Yoga - Luminous Life Yoga
Yin Yoga: Relaxing Time of Reflection and Stretching

For over a year, I worked out 1-2 times per day and tried to push myself hard on each workout.  I saw results from my efforts, but I was likely over-training.  In the last 3 weeks, I have followed Dave’s instruction of resting when not in the gym, as “gains are achieved outside of the gym.”  During these last weeks, I have felt more rested, and I have had more time to pursue other things. Tonight, I needed to do a supplemental “workout,” as my wife had noticed my body was a little stiffer than usual, so she suggested we go to Yin Yoga at Luminous Life Yoga in Wixom.

In years past, we did yoga together with some frequency, and Laurie eventually became a certified yoga instructor, but I did not share the same passion. While I supported her pursuit of happiness in taking and in instructing yoga, I preferred workouts I considered to be more challenging to strength or endurance. I wanted my workouts to have results that could be seen by others as well as myself. Yoga is the opposite of that, as many instructors will remind a class to not look at what another person is doing for comparison, and “be sure to not should all of yourself.” For my wife, yoga provides a great physical, emotional, and mental release. For me, I often have a hard time letting go and being with myself in the moment and the pose.

Tonight, Yin Yoga hit the spot. My shoulders, back, and legs have been very tight lately, and while I am warming up more than I ever have before a workout, I can still feel tension build in the muscles. When Laurie described Yin as an hour long stretching and relaxing class, I wasn’t sure if I could handle the slow progression of the class, but I knew I needed the release of tension in my muscles.

During class, Ray, the owner and instructor of the studio, instructed us to let go of what we had been carrying around with us all day physically and emotionally. Allow ourselves to be in the moment and to enjoy the class. Breathe into the poses and stay focused on our breaths. If we were forced into shallow breaths, back off because we are working too hard. If we felt like we could do more, take the pose to the edge of comfort, but don’t feel like we have to do more than what we feel good about. Essentially, take time to care for an to love ourselves, even if it was only for an hour.

At the end of class, my shoulders, quadriceps, and back were all much looser than when I started, and I had set aside some of the stress of the day. I was better prepared to prioritize my evening to meet my needs and to be prepared for tomorrow. When I awake and go to do some fun lifting in the morning, I will be doing so with a body that is better prepared for the taxing workouts I have ahead of me tomorrow and all weekend.

Remember: take time to love and to take care of yourself and breathe.

Steamed Muscles For Pre-Workout and Recovery

Posted on by Craig Lahti

No, I’m not talking about the seafood mussels; rather, I am fortunate to work for a sauna and steam room manufacturer, and l believe in the benefits of heat bathing, so I have purchased and installed an infrared sauna and a steam shower in our home. Though both make me perspire almost as much Frank’s great bootcamp class at Fitness Revolution, they achieve the sweat in a different way, which lends themselves to being used differently.

Most days, I choose to use my Amerec steam shower, as it is integrated with my existing shower. About 15 minutes before my workout is scheduled to finish, the steam generator is programmed to preheat the shower. By the time I make it home, the shower is 110 degrees and ready to soothe my aching muscles and sometimes sore joints. During construction, I added a shower seat to let me relax while in the heat. As I enter the room, I add a few drops of Eucalyptus oil which both invigorates and helps to clear my sinuses (have been having allergy issues the last couple days).

The heat from the steam shower is warm and soothing, much like a hot tub but without the chemicals, need for extra maintenance, or constant drain on electricity. The heated, moist air feels great on the skin, and I feel both physical and mental stress start to melt away in the heat. Because the temperature is relatively low and most of the heat is transferred to the body through the water vapor, the heat doesn’t penetrate too deeply into the muscles, but when I use it almost daily, it helps to keep my body, skin, and mind fresh, clear, and ready to approach each day with vigor.

Amerec Steam Shower with Chromatherapy
My Amerec Steam Shower is my morning refuge after a tough workout.

Today, I will be using the Helo B820 Far-Infrared sauna before I go with Dave to train on strongman events. I have had a very tight supraspinatus which can limit my lifts as it clicks and causes some pain in my left shoulder. I have regular massages, which work wonders on it, but while hot air ballooning the last two nights, I have felt a little extra tension in the muscle, and far-infrared heat, unlike steam, penetrates 1-1/2″ into the muscles and tissue of the body, thus it helps as a pre-workout warm-up to increase circulation to the area and to loosen the muscles without excessive stretching.  Since far-infrared begins working as soon as it is turned on, I can use it for 20-30 minutes without preheating, which helps when on a tight schedule. When my muscles feel a little more fried after a workout, the infrared helps to release tension deeper within the muscle, so I will often fill a couple glasses of water, turn on a movie I can watch on the TV I can see from within the sauna, and spend as much time as I need taking several innings in the sauna until I am feeling like a million bucks.

Helo B820 IR Sauna Ready for Use
My Helo B820 IR Sauna heated and ready to go with a soothing chromatherapy lighting.

I am excited for today’s workout, and I am happy that I get to use both the sauna and steam today to prepare for and recover after the workout. My evening and weekend will finish with another night of ballooning (crewing tonight), so I need to be physically ready for lifting, pulling, and towing everything for the setup, launch, landing, and packing of the balloon for Wicker Basket Balloon Center.

Starting our flight over Milford Memories
Starting our flight over Milford Memories

Rest, Relaxation, and Recovery

Posted on by Craig Lahti

To me, “rest” is a word with a twisted meaning. Examples:
“Do what work you can, and I will finish the rest.” OR “Eat whatever you want, and I will eat the rest.”

Dave has challenged me to encourage a healthier meaning of the word “rest.” For over a year, despite recommendations by the great trainers at Fitness Revolution of Wixom, I would not take a rest day. The day after completing the Detroit Half-Marathon, I was back in the gym for a 6 AM metabolic workout. Dave advised me that if I want to see significant gains, I must allow my body to rest and recover.

As much of a challenge as I may find it to honor my rest days, I will work on relaxing and recovering for the next many weeks. I know my washing machine will be happy to not have so many loads of stinky, sweaty workout clothes to wash.

Here’s to rest, relaxation, and recovery.

Relaxing in the hammock.
Relaxing in the hammock with my daughter. It has been about a year since I last did this.