Jon Pietrolaj's Strongman Training Journal

[jp2004c5]

Amazed with all lifts man, and I do mean all!!

Thanks. Very much appreciated.

[jp2004c5]

Thurs 6/9/2011

Basically a shitty one tonight. Guess I expected it seeing as I've had two decent ones in a row where I hit some PR's. Everything felt like crap tonight. When the empty bar feels like crap you know it's not going to go well. I should of been smart and took it easy tonight, but like an idiot I tried to push it and the workout ended up sucking.

Cambered Bar Box Squats (Shoulder Width Stance, Belt, Knee Sleeves & Parallel Box)
160X5
250X5
340X5
430X5
520X1
570X1
610X1
660X1 - This felt like uber shit so I stopped here. My knees were kind of achy today so I used knee sleeves. I think the 1000lb Yoke I did on Saturday really fried me b/c all the weights felt way, way heavier than they should.

Speed Deadlifts
315 - 3X1
335 - 3X1
405X1
495X1
585X1 - Was practicing trying to almost pull the bar backward like a car deadlift and the weights were really flying off the floor so I decided to keep going up in weight and see what would happen. 585 felt like crap. Slow as hell.

By this time I had been down in the basement for two hours. I have no clue where the time goes. I was beat and called it a night. Over the next two weeks I'm going to finish my prep for the Keystone 2 contest on June 26th. After that I am planning on switching my routine around and going to two lower body days, one upper body day and an event day. My lower body needs a lot of work and I need to seriously start putting the time in to make it stronger.

[jp2004c5]

Sat 6/11/2011

Hot as hell on Saturday, 85 degress and humid. First real hot training day of the summer and it was brutal. My energy was zapped pretty quick. My body was still feeling like crap. Should of done the "deload" this week, but I'm an idiot and tried to keep pushing through it.

Farmers Walk
135's X 100ft, turn @ 50ft
225's X 100ft, turn @ 50ft
275's X 100ft, turn @ 50ft
315's X 50ft
340's X 50ft
380's X 30ft - Hands were real sweaty by this point and the Farmers handles just slipped right out. Hit 375's at the end of April fairly easy so I know 380's are in me. Just going to chalk it up to my sweaty hands and not think about it to much even though it pissed me off I didn't get 50ft.

Stones
320 to 54" X 1
355 to 46" X 2
355 to 54" X FLD
395 to 46" X FLD - Lapped, but missed load
395 to 46" X FLD - Lapped, but missed load
Had to do Stones quickly. I needed to be somewhere and I was running behind schedule. These went awful today. My entire back from top to bottom felt horrible. I had no pop at all on stones. The other thing is I got a new jar of Elite tacky and it kind of sucks. There isnt a lot of stick to it. I'm not making excuses. I sucked it up big time on stones and will admit it. When I barely hit 320 to 54" I kind of knew things weren't going to go well.

Pulldown Abs
110 - 3X10

[jp2004c5]

Mon 6/13/2011

Decided to start my new routine today. It's not much different from what I have been doing. I am basically doing two lower body days a week now so I can focus more on my deadlifting muscles (Hamstrings, Upper Back, etc.). My Deadlift is my #1 weakness right now and it needs to be improved ASAP. I'm hoping with increased focus on the lower body, my Deadlift will start going in the right direction.

16" Rack Deadlifts (Belt and Straps)
135X5
225X5
315X5
405X5
495X1
585X1
675X1
725X1
775X1 - PR!! Pathetic, but a PR none the less.
805XFLD - 775 went up so well thought I'd give it a shot. Not tonight.

Front Box Squats (Shoulder Width Stance, Belt, Parallel Box)
135X3
225X3
275X3
315X3
365X3 - Just messing around with these tonight. I plan on doing them more often.

Reverse Hypers
180 - 3X10

Cable Side Bends
100 - 3X10 per side - Supersetted w/ Hypers

GHR
BW - 4X10

[jp2004c5]

Wed 6/15/2011

Not a great workout tonight. My lower back has been feeling like crap since after Monday's workout. Actually its been feeling like crap for the past week and a half, two weeks, but was a lot more sore after Monday's workout.

12" Log Clean and Press (Clean once, press away)
195X5
245X5
285X3
315X1
345X1
365X1
390XFLD - Just didn't have any pop tonight. Lower back hindered this. Started really feeling like crap after miss with 390.

Barbell Incline Press (Medium Grip)
135X10
225X5
315X5
345X5
365X2 - Need to start working on these more often. Probably have done BB Inclines once or twice in the past several years.

Swiss Bar Skull Crushers
120,150X10
180X8

Straight Bar Tricep Pushdowns
100 - 3X10

Swiss Bar Hammer Curls
100,110,120X10 - Supersetted w/ Pushdowns

[jp2004c5]

Thurs 6/16/2011

Came home from work and took a nap for almost two hours. Felt exhausted all day today. Tonight's workout will be my last of the week. No event training this weekend. I have a wedding to go to on Saturday then Father's Day plans on Sunday. The plan is to do the Keystone II contest next Sunday here in York. I will do one or two very light assistance only workouts next week just to get the blood moving. My body needs some serious rest. I have been feeling like total crap lately. Towards the end of my workout tonight I got super dizzy and felt like I was going to puke. Not sure what that was about, but I know my body was telling me to cool it so I did.

SSB Speed Box Squats (Wide Stance)
340 - 8X2

Wide Grip Lat Pulldowns
160,180,190X10

Reverse Hypers
180,230,270X10 - Supersetted w/ Pulldowns

Chest Supported Rows (Parallel Grip)
100,120,140X8

Pulldown Abs
110,110,110X10 - Supersetted w/ Rows

SSB Shrugs
160,250X12

GHR
10lbs, 20lbs X10 - Supersetted w/ Shrugs. Started feeling like total shit here. Got really dizzy and felt like I was going to puke. Didn't want to pass out in the basement so I called it a night.

[jp2004c5]

Mon 6/20/2011

Just a quick one tonight to get the blood flowing. Resting for contest on Sunday. Will do one more light workout on Wednesday and that will be it.

Reverse Hypers
180 - 3X12

Pulldown Abs
110 - 3X10 - Supersetted w/ Hypers

GHR
BW - 4X12

Cable Side Bends
90 - 3X10 per side - Supersetted w/ GHRs

[jp2004c5]

Wed 6/22/2011

Just another quick one tonight. This will be my last workout till the contest on Sunday. Now time to rest and try and get my head right.

Speed Overhead w/ Axle
175 - 8X3

Parallel Grip Lat Pulldowns
160,170,180X10

V-Bar Tricep Pushdowns
100 - 3X12

Chest Supported Rows (Straight Bar Grip)
100 - 3X8 - Supersetted w/ Pushdowns

Swiss Bar Hammer Curls
90 - 3X10

[StLRPh]

good luck this weekend

[jp2004c5]

good luck this weekend

Thanks. Appreciate it.

[jp2004c5]

This is a writeup I did for my friends and family. It's a little longwinded. I have to explain events in depth b/c they don't compete in strongman. My apologies.

On Sunday, June 26th I competed in the Keystone II Strongman Contest held at York Barbell. We had seven competitors in the 232lb+ class and all of them ended up being pretty tough. My goal for this contest was to qualify for Nationals and to do so I needed to finish in 1st or 2nd Place overall in my class.

Event 1 – Max Axle Clean and Press – 310lbs, 340lbs, 365lbs – 1st Place
The first event was the Max Axle Clean and Press. Each competitor gets three attempts. However, if you miss one of your attempts you’re done. In training, I recently hit 380lbs in the Axle Clean and Press so I felt I had enough to walk away with a win in this event. Usually in this event 330-340lbs will get you a win. Not today. I was shocked at the pressing ability of all the athletes. Almost every competitor hit 300+lbs in the event which is impressive. I opened at 310lbs which felt terrible. I guess I just wasn’t warmed up yet. Strategy also plays a huge role in this event. My second attempt was 340lbs. I choose this weight because all the other athletes except three of us had used up their three attempts at lower weights. Another guy and I choose 340lbs, but for him it was his third attempt, for me only my second. We both nailed 340lbs, but now he was done and I had one more attempt to go. At this point there were only two of us left. Mike decided to go with 355lbs and got it easily. I wanted the win and asked for 365lbs. I hit 365lbs fairly easily and walked away with the win. I probably had another 20lbs in me.

Event 2 – Car Deadlift – 650-700lbs??? – Tied 1st Place
The second event was the car deadlift. Not exactly sure how heavy the car was. It wasn’t light I can tell you that. My guess is somewhere around 650-700lbs. I had the unfortunate privilege of going first on the event. If you can you normally want to go last in an event so you know the number you need to win. Going first means you set the number to beat. If you don’t go all out, someone can walk up, hit one more rep than you and walk away with the win. I was hoping that was not going to happen. I strapped in to the car deadlift apparatus and hit the first rep easily then did a quick second rep which the judge didn’t count. I ended up pulling 14 reps, not including the one that got taken away. The number was good enough for a 1st place tie which I was very happy with.

Event 3 – Farmer’s Hold for time – 310lbs in each hand – 4th Place
The third event was a pretty simple one you hold a 310lb Farmer’s Walk handle in each hand for as long as you can. The person who holds on the longest wins. At this point in the contest I was in 1st place overall so I got to go last which I mentioned is a huge advantage. When it was my turn to go the time to beat was 41 seconds. I was excited because in training I did 45 seconds with 315lb Farmer’s handles in each hand so I knew 41 seconds was within my reach. I picked up the Farmer’s handles and took the pain as we say. Ten seconds, I felt fine. Twenty seconds, still felt good. Thirty seconds, it was starting to hurt, but I felt I still had a decent grip. Shortly after that I honestly don’t know what happened, but the handle in my left hand started to slip. I tried to recover, but it was too late. It fell to the ground and my time was only 37 seconds. I had a chance to really put some distance between me and the rest of the athletes and I literally let it slip through my fingers.

Event 4 – Tire Flip – 880lbs, most flips in 60 seconds – 4th Place
After the disappointment on the Farmer’s Hold I was shocked I was still in 1st place overall and had a surprising four point lead on the guy in 2nd place. A four point lead in strongman is a good gap to have especially when you’re in a contest with not to many other competitors. Again I got to go last and the number to beat was nine flips. The particular tire we were using was brutal. I have used it in several contests before with terrible results. The tire is fairly tall when it is lying down on the ground. If you have short arms, like I do, you are gripping the bottom of it with just your fingertips which means you can’t get your full power into it when you explode it off the ground. On a tire that isn’t as tall, you can get the treads of the tire in your palms and blast it off the ground. No excuses. Every competitor has their advantages and disadvantages in events. This one just happened to be to my disadvantage. I felt nine reps was out of my reach. I haven’t trained tire much over the last year because I have been having issues with my biceps and tire flipping, if done incorrectly, is one of the best exercises to tear a bicep in half. I decided I was going to go out and hit as many as I could and not worry about it. I ended up with 5 flips which wasn’t a great number, but good enough to keep me in 1st place overall with a few point lead going into the last event.

Event 5 – Stone over Bar – 360lb Stone over 44-46” bar – Last place due to bicep injury
At this point in the contest I was still in 1st place overall with a three point lead on my next closest competitor. All I really needed to do was put a few stones over the bar and at the worst I would walk away with a 2nd place overall finish which would have accomplished my goal of qualifying for Nationals. The number to beat was seven reps. In my head I was going to shoot for five, maybe six and call it a day. It was very warm out by this point and the tacky I had on was like butter in my hands. I knew this wasn’t going to be good. I was going to wipe it off and just use whatever tacky was already on the stone from the previous competitors, but I waited to long and it was time for me to go. This is where disaster struck. I bent down and wrapped my hands around the stone and just as I thought the tacky was like butter and absolutely worthless. I squeezed the stone as hard as I could and got it in my lap. I started to explode up with it and just as I was about to put it over the bar I heard a pop followed by a crunch and then a fiery sensation coming from my left bicep which in turn made me drop the stone and miss the rep. I stopped for a second to try and process what happened and all these questions were running through my head, “How bad was it?”, “Did I tear my bicep like I have been fearing for months now?”, “Could I keep going?”. For a split second I thought about giving the stone another shot. I wanted to try and salvage the contest thinking at least I could finish in 2nd place overall and qualify for Nationals like I had planned, but then the head judge said to me it wasn’t worth it and he was right. In my head, even though I was hurt and no one can predict when injuries are going to happen, I knew I blew it and that was an awful feeling.

I ended up in 3rd place overall which in the grand scheme of things is good seeing as all seven athletes in the class were extremely competitive, but is a hard pill to swallow when you were winning all day and an injury cost you your goal. Not to take anything away from the guys who ended up in 1st and 2nd place. They fought hard all day and deserve what they got. Now I just have to sit back and wait to see how severe the injury is. Hopefully it’s not that serious and I can be back at it in a few weeks. At least I hope so. Thanks for reading.

[StLRPh]

sorry to hear about the injury, especially after such a good showing

BTW, no more complaining about your deadlift, 700 x 14 reps is insane

[jp2004c5]

sorry to hear about the injury, especially after such a good showing

BTW, no more complaining about your deadlift, 700 x 14 reps is insane

Thanks. Really appreciate it. Car Deadlift is so much different from regular Deadlift. When the handles are at my sides like a Trap Bar my Deadlift isn't bad at all, but put the bar infront of me and I suck.

[jp2004c5]

Here are some vids from yesterday's contest. Nothing really that special. I did go to the doctors today and he feels like I probably tore some muscle fibers in my left bicep and not the actual bicep tendon which is good news. I have to rest the arm for the next 4-6 weeks. I'm planning on training around the injury. I guess that means I'm going to need to head back to a commercial gym so I can do things like leg press and hammer strength stuff for upper body. Get the "Lunk Alarm" ready Planet Fitness HAHA!!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xMYGswdYIaw – Axle Clean & Press

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ca2hQeZSKqg – Car Deadlift

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OdmTXDkziRE – Farmer’s Hold

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rBcoXpMZPTc – Tire Flip

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tdhTR_BJD_A – Stone over Bar

[jp2004c5]

Tues 6/28/2011

Went down in the basement to put my gear away. Saw the Safety Squat Bar was in the Power Rack so I decided to see if I could squat while only holding the bar with my right arm. Worked perfectly so squatting with the Safety Squat Bar will be one of the exercises I do over the next 4-6 weeks.

SSB Box Squat (Shoulder Width Stance, Belt only, Barefoot)
160X5
250X5
340X5
430X5
480X5
500X5 - Everything felt good and no pain in my left bicep.

Cardio
20 minutes walking on treadmill

[jp2004c5]

Thurs 6/30/2011

I joined a commercial gym so I can work the right side of my upper body while my left bicep is healing up. I haven't been in a commercial gym in a long, long time. Within two minutes, no lie, two minutes, I had some dude come up and start talking to me and ask me stupid questions. Thank god he got the hint after awhile and walked away. This may end up being a nightmare. Also, when did commercial gym stop using 100lb plates? If I decide to leg press there I'm going to use up every 45lb plate in the gym. I do love the basement of mediocrity.

All Exercises just right arm only

Hammer Strength Shoulder Press
45X10
90X10
115X10
135X5
145X5

Hammer Strength Bench Press
45X5
90X5
115X5
135X5

One Arm Seated Cable Row
60,100,120,140X10

One Arm Tricep Pushdown
30,40,50.60X10

Hammer Strength Lat Pulldown
45,70,90,100X10 - Supersetted w/ Tri PD

SSB Shrugs
160,210,260X15

[jp2004c5]

Fri 7/1/2011

Just a quick one tonight.

SSB Good Mornings off Pins in Power Rack (Beltless, Bar at waist height)
160X5
210X5
250X1
300X1
325X1
350X1
375X1

GHR
BW - 5X10

GHR Situps
BW, 5lbs, 10lbs, 10lbs, 15lbs X10

[jp2004c5]

Sat 7/2/2011

Forward Sled Drags
10 X 200ft, 90lbs + 35lb Sled

[jp2004c5]

Mon 7/4/2011

Slept in today for the first time in a long while and it felt great. Was feeling strong as hell today even though I couldn't use left arm.

SSB Box Squats (Shoulder Width Stance, Belt, Rehband Knee Sleeve on Right knee, Parallel Box and Barefoot)
160X5
250X5
340X5
430X5
520X5
570X5
610X1
630X1
650X1
660X1 - The plan was to stop after 520X5 however I was feeling so strong I kept going. The rep with 660lbs went right up. My best all time with the SSB is 670lbs and that's with a wide stance. I honestly feel I could of taken down 680lbs today for an new PR, but I didn't want to risk further injuring my left bicep if I were to miss. Also, I really like squatting barefoot. I know it's not safe, but I feel like I can feel the reps more then when I wear shoes.

SSB Shrugs
160,210,250,270,300X15

GHR
BW, 5lbs, 10lbs, 15lbs, 20lbs X10 - Supersetted w/ Shrugs

[jp2004c5]

Tues 7/5/2011

Upper Body Training - Right Arm only.

Hammer Strength Seated Shoulder Press
90,115,135,155,160X5

Hammer Strength Seated Incline Press
90,115,135,160X5

One Arm Seated Cable Row
100,120,140,160X10

One Arm Tricep Pushdown
50,70,90,100X10 - Supersetted w/ Cable Rows

Hammer Strength Lat Pulldown
70,90,100,110X10

One Arm Dumbbell Hammer Curl
25,30,35X15

Did get brave and try out my left arm
One Arm Tricep Pushdowns w/ Left Arm
30,50,70,80,90X10

[jp2004c5]

Fri 7/8/2011

Was limited in what I could do. On top of my left bicep, my right knee has now decided to start acting up. It has been swelled up and extremely stiff since Monday. I also, towards the end of this workout, did something to my right elbow picking a plate off the ground and placing it on the bar. I had a band of pain that wrapped around the entire elbow region which only got worse as the weekend went on. As I write this now, the pain has subsided and it doesn't feel to bad. To say I'm about ready to call it quits is an understatement.

SSB Good Mornings off Pins in Rack (Beltless, Barefoot, Rehband Sleeve on Right Knee, Bar at Waist Height)
160X5
210X5
250X5
300X1
325X1
345X1
365X1
385X1
405X1
425X1

SSB Shrugs
160,250,300,350X10

GHR Situps
BW, 10lbs, 20lbs, 25lbs X10 - Supersetted w/ Shrugs

[jp2004c5]

Here are some videos from my training in June.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GvbnAJdkcz4 – 1000lb Yoke for 50ft

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8cttoGGTIG4 – 380lb 2" Axle Clean and Press

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gwFmd4zt0xc - 775lb 16" Rack Pull

[Mark!]

Some heavy assed, solid lifting going on in here man, how'd I miss this journal? Sucks about the injury, how's the rehab coming along? Commercial gyms suck, sorry for that too.

[jp2004c5]

Some heavy assed, solid lifting going on in here man, how'd I miss this journal? Sucks about the injury, how's the rehab coming along? Commercial gyms suck, sorry for that too.

Mark,

Thanks. The bicep is getting better. The bruising is almost all gone. It doesn't feel to bad. I will be resting it for another two weeks to be safe then start back light and work my way up. The commercial gym will only be for a little while longer HAHA!! I'm so glad I have my own stuff and my basement to workout in. Couldn't do commercial gym all the time.

[Mark!]

Mark,

Thanks. The bicep is getting better. The bruising is almost all gone. It doesn't feel to bad. I will be resting it for another two weeks to be safe then start back light and work my way up. The commercial gym will only be for a little while longer HAHA!! I'm so glad I have my own stuff and my basement to workout in. Couldn't do commercial gym all the time.

I did a local 24 hour fitness for a while, I was in there at around 3-4am, it wasn't bad, usually just me and a decently built teen bodybuilder who worked his ass off, and another teen bber who didn't do a damn thing but posing routines. But going during prime time a few times was a nightmare. I'm like you, I wouldn't trade my garage gym for anything except a bigger garage gym, or my own hardcore gym to run.