Fun Times

Highland Games - Austin Celtic Festival is 11/05
My buddy and I held another training session on Saturday, 10/22. I'm getting much better at the hammer throw and the caber toss. The atlas stone clean and press, and weight over bar are still areas to improve.

After we do all of our skill work, which is exhausting in and of itself, we finish with competitions that have a high degree of carry-over to the actual events. Our competitive events are


  1. Tire flips: most reps in 2 minutes

  2. Atlas clean and press: most reps in 2 minutes

  3. 90lb Tire sled drag: 40 yard for fastest time

  4. 103lb T-bell swing: most consecutive reps.
These are fun, and with the group of guys we have, everyone puts absolutely everything they have into each event. We care more about our own PRs than "beating" the next guy.


New Training Phase
I've been training pretty consistently since my last post. I've finished up the ABA/BAB rotation and am back to a more strength-size focused plan. My basic observations:


  • My arms need to be stimulated with heavy weight and high frequency to get any degree of development.

  • My horizontal pressing strength increases faster than my vertical pressing strength

  • My pulling movements (horizontal or vertical) respond better to higher rep ranges

  • My legs require more than 2 days to recover, now that my loads are considerably higher than last year.

So my plan for the rest of the year is a 4 day rotation. The specifics of each day may change from phase to phase, but the split / frequency will stay constant.


Day 1: Abs, arms
Day 2: Legs
Day 3: Push/pull
Day 4: Off


In the first cycle, I'll prioritize vertical push/pull over horizontal. In the 2nd 4-day cycle, I'll prioritize horizontal. Same applies to legs: knee dominant in one cycle, hip dominant the next. This will be slower progress, but far more sustainable over the long term. I'll only have to increase reps or weight every 8 days instead of EVERY OTHER DAY.



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