My Journey To The Pro Circuit

[Clay Edgin]

DE lower body

Decided to put something together based on the Westside template and see how it goes. The mistake I made tonight is that I had a big, greasy dinner beforehand and it almost came up a few times so I had to cut my workout short. I got to use my nice Woody bands from www.liftinglarge.com tonight and they rocked.

13" box squats w/green bands*

45x5, 95x5, 185x2x2x2x2x2x2x2x2

* = the site says they are 50-120lbs of resistance each so I'm not sure what kind of resistance we're looking at here during my work sets. 225 for these working sets should be a good challenge next week. I set up a mirror next to the box and tried to see where I was in relation to parallel. The 13" box puts me about an inch or two below and a 15" box is about as close to perfectly parallel as I can get.

Sumo deadlifts with doubled green band:

135x5, 225x15x15x0

First set of 15 was hard. Second set made me lay down and want to puke. As I approached the bar for the third set, I walked by it and immediately felt dizzy and started those stomach contractions that tell me it's time to give my dinner back, so I returned to me prone position on the cement floor for another 20 minutes, then hit the showers.

That doubled band made the lockout above the knees pretty solid. I had a hard time figuring out how to set it up so I could use the band resistance and still pull sumo so I wrapped the band around a couple 100lb plates and put it in the middle of the bar so I straddled it with the wide stance. Worked well I think.

Tomorrow is DE bench. This time, no greasy dinner beforehand.

[Muscle Turtle]

Clay, if you want real strength, dont just choke the bands, DOUBLE THEM. Put themn through a d bell and hook both ends on the bar... Youll need a 80 lb d bell to keep minis down... smalls will take 120's

much better than choking..

[Clay Edgin]

DE bench

Bench with green Woody bands (50-120lbs):

45x5, 95x5, 135x5, 185x2 for 12 sets

I changed the grip width so I did 4 sets of 2 with each grip. 205 for the working sets next time. Took a little experimenting to find a way to hook the bands so they worked well but I think that it is all part of the learning process.

Standing tricep extensions on curl bar:

95x15, x15, x30

Bent over rows:

135x12, 185x12, x12

Not bad work. Still kinda feeling my way around this dynamic effort stuff and figuring out what weights I should be using to start with. Tomorrow is rest, Friday is ME squat, Saturday is ME bench.

[FatBoy]

Looks like you have been working hard, Keep up the good work Clay. I want to see you get your pro card.

[Janne]

Looks like you have been working hard, Keep up the good work Clay. I want to see you get your pro card.

←

How does one get a Pro Card in strongman?

[Clay Edgin]

You earn your pro card by collecting box tops from any Kellogg's cereal! Nah, you earn it by winning the amateur division of a Pro-Am level contest or by winning the amateur Nationals. The problem is, there are always really strong guys there who want to win it too!

ME lower body

Crap, I cannot get used to a squat suit at all. I seem to be able to pull conventional in it, but sumo and squats are out of the question. I was hoping to get some sets of 2 in with the suit bottoms on a box, but I'm not strong enough to box squat enough weight to push me down onto the box. So in other words, I can use 405 and not touch the box but have the strength to do box squat it or I can use more weight to touch the box but not stand! That's some awkward middle ground.

Box Squats

135x5, 185x3, 225x2 (PR), 275x2 (PR), 315x2 (PR), 405x2 (suit), 405x0 with belt

A week ago I was fighting 195 and today I hit 315 without a belt or anything. I still need to work a wider stance though. I was doing these in the rack because I wanted to use the suit and have the option to dump the bar if I needed to, which I had to do twice.

Deadlifts:

8 sets of 2 @ 495lbs

This felt good and I should increase to like 515 or 525 next time. My low back is fried right now. For fun I tried to push press 135 and it felt like a ton because I had no core stability left.

Tomorrow is ME bench and I hope to murder some 3 board presses. If I can't get used to the equipment for the powerlifting meet on 4/22, I will just squat with a belt and wraps, pull in the suit, and bench with a shirt. We'll see how things go.

[supermagnamon]

Looks like you have been working hard, Keep up the good work Clay. I want to see you get your pro card.

←

How does one get a Pro Card in strongman?

most of the time, one would have to win at a platinum level or pro-arm strongman contest.

http://www.nastrongman.com/aboutnass/levels.htm

You earn your pro card by collecting box tops from any Kellogg's cereal! Nah, you earn it by winning the amateur division of a Pro-Am level contest or by winning the amateur Nationals. The problem is, there are always really strong guys there who want to win it too!

ME lower body

Crap, I cannot get used to a squat suit at all. I seem to be able to pull conventional in it, but sumo and squats are out of the question. I was hoping to get some sets of 2 in with the suit bottoms on a box, but I'm not strong enough to box squat enough weight to push me down onto the box. So in other words, I can use 405 and not touch the box but have the strength to do box squat it or I can use more weight to touch the box but not stand! That's some awkward middle ground.

Box Squats

135x5, 185x3, 225x2 (PR), 275x2 (PR), 315x2 (PR), 405x2 (suit), 405x0 with belt

A week ago I was fighting 195 and today I hit 315 without a belt or anything. I still need to work a wider stance though. I was doing these in the rack because I wanted to use the suit and have the option to dump the bar if I needed to, which I had to do twice.

Deadlifts:

8 sets of 2 @ 495lbs

This felt good and I should increase to like 515 or 525 next time. My low back is fried right now. For fun I tried to push press 135 and it felt like a ton because I had no core stability left.

Tomorrow is ME bench and I hope to murder some 3 board presses. If I can't get used to the equipment for the powerlifting meet on 4/22, I will just squat with a belt and wraps, pull in the suit, and bench with a shirt. We'll see how things go.

how about using a looser suit?

[Clay Edgin]

The suit I already have is loose enough to where I can get it on by myself, something I'm told I shouldn't be able to do, so any looser than that and I may as well be wearing a singlet! haha

[supermagnamon]

The suit I already have is loose enough to where I can get it on by myself, something I'm told I shouldn't be able to do, so any looser than that and I may as well be wearing a singlet! haha

wow. no way. having a loose suit is not bad, ihmo. i wear loose suits for training and on comps, so far. i haven't been able to find a tight suit for comps as of yet. btw, what type of suit are u using?

[Clay Edgin]

I'm using a Titan Centurion, just single ply poly.

Tonight's escapades are either titled "Got triceps for days, son!" or "Down with the Strictness".

My #1 goal for this year is to get my overhead numbers up and work on the weakness that is my pressing. Tonight was a good step in that direction.

3 Board ME bench:

135x10, 185x5, 225x2, 275x2, x2, 315x2x2x2x2x2x2x2x2 (PR)

Dang, I never smoked the 3 boards like this before. 335 for those working sets next time. I really feel my bench technique developing. There were many sets where the bar just popped off the pins when I unracked it and I knew it was going to be a good set, which it was.

Standing strict presses:

135x10, 185x6 (PR), 225x1 (PR!)

Upon review of the video, it looks like I leaned back a bit to start the press so I'd guess it was more of an Olympic press than a real strict press, but it was very satisfying to get this. Seems I do my best pressing after doing a bunch of heavier work.

Seated presses (dead stop singles):

From 24" ROM - 135x5

From 18" ROM - 185x5, 185x5 (PR I think)

From 12" ROM - 225x5, 225x5

The second set of 225 felt lighter than the first set but I didn't think I had it in me after doing the first set.

Standing tricep extensions:

95x15 x 3 sets (PR)

I incorrectly listed my previous attempt a few days ago at 95 lbs when in fact it was 75lbs. I'm mis-calculated the weight of the curl bar as 45lbs instead of 25.

Good work tonight. It was a few degrees above freezing outside but the garage was smoking hot and I am drenched.

Edited January 2, 2006 by ClayEdgin

[Clay Edgin]

Damn, I'm in some big pain today. My shoulders and lats are killing me from the pressing workout. Today I had to stack boxes full of files which probably only weigh 50lbs a piece but I was having to dang near snatch them because the pressing muscles just weren't cooperating!

DE squat tonight which should hopefully make some blood flow through the shoulders. I love this type of pleasurable discomfort though. It's like lightly slapping a sunburn or getting a tattoo - the constant ache that tells you that something important is happening

[BigT]

I'm using a Titan Centurion, just single ply poly.

Tonight's escapades are either titled "Got triceps for days, son!" or "Down with the Strictness".

My #1 goal for this year is to get my overhead numbers up and work on the weakness that is my pressing. Tonight was a good step in that direction.

3 Board ME bench:

135x10, 185x5, 225x2, 275x2, x2, 315x2x2x2x2x2x2x2x2 (PR)

Dang, I never smoked the 3 boards like this before. 335 for those working sets next time. I really feel my bench technique developing. There were many sets where the bar just popped off the pins when I unracked it and I knew it was going to be a good set, which it was.

Standing strict presses:

135x10, 185x6 (PR), 225x1 (PR!)

Upon review of the video, it looks like I leaned back a bit to start the press so I'd guess it was more of an Olympic press than a real strict press, but it was very satisfying to get this. Seems I do my best pressing after doing a bunch of heavier work.

Seated presses (dead stop singles):

From 24" ROM - 135x5

From 18" ROM - 185x5, 185x5 (PR I think)

From 12" ROM - 225x5, 225x5

The second set of 225 felt lighter than the first set but I didn't think I had it in me after doing the first set.

Standing tricep extensions:

95x15 x 3 sets (PR)

I incorrectly listed my previous attempt a few days ago at 95 lbs when in fact it was 75lbs. I'm mis-calculated the weight of the curl bar as 45lbs instead of 25.

Good work tonight. It was a few degrees above freezing outside but the garage was smoking hot and I am drenched.

look forward to reading your log and seeing you really kill things this year buddy, good strict presses by the way

[Clay Edgin]

DE lower

Box squats with green woody bands (50-120lbs each) to 15" box:

barx10, 135x2x2, 185x2x2, 225x2 for 8 sets

Sumbitch, I was flying off that box in the beginning sets. I'm already feeling more flexibility and strength throughout the hips. The band tension was pretty big - 135 felt like 315 at the top and 225 was definitely over 400. I've been trying to keep good form on all these but the last few sets the form broke down and I had to fight harder to keep my hips underneath me.

Good mornings with green woody bands

barx15, 135x15 for 3 sets

I used a wide stance on these and it felt much harder. My depth on these was pretty good I'd say - I'd go to where the band would start to get some slack in it and then come up quick. Bands bring a whole new level of pain to the mix.

Shrugs:

135x15, 225x15, 425x10

DE bench tomorrow - 3 board press with bands, floor presses, standing tricep extensions. Maybe sub skullcrushers for the standing tri ext's if my back and legs are as smoked as I think they'll be.

[Clay Edgin]

DE bench

I was going to do this last night but Wednesdays is the only night Kelli and I have together without our daughter so we usually just get some takeout and watch a movie.

Bench with green woody bands:

barx10, 95x5, 135x5, 225x12 sets of 2 with 3 different width grips

I think this is a PR for working sets. I definitely won't be jumping to 275 next week. Maybe 245 and I'll try to keep my technique tighter.

Seated presses for dead stop singles:

135x5 (24" ROM) 185x5 (18" ROM) 185x5 (12" ROM) 225x5 (12" ROM) 275x1 (12" ROM) (PR) 275x5 (6" ROM) (PR), 315x1 (6" ROM) (PR), 365x3 (6" ROM) (PR)

I do love this exercise. I damn near lost my balance twice on the 365 and was real close to having to throw the bar back behind me. That would have sucked.

Standing tricep extensions:

95x15 for 3 sets, x20 for 1 set

[Clay Edgin]

Light event work

Warren came out today and we hit a couple events just to knock the rust off.

Yoke carry (conan's type walk)

285x50ft, 385x180ft

I forgot how much this type of carry presses into the lungs!

Keg clean and press

115 for a bunch of cleans, presses and snatches.

I'm going up to Farmington tomorrow to train with Travis so I wasn't interested in going too heavy today

[Clay Edgin]

Frenzy in Farmington

I made the 3hr drive up to Farmington today to train with Travis at the high school where he gets to use their gym.

14" log:

Me: 170x5, 190x5, x3, 214x3, 224x3

Travis: 170x5, x5, 190x3, x3, 214x1 I think

More gas in the tank on this one. This log is huge!

Push press from rack:

Me: 135x5, 185x2, 225x2, 245x2, 255x1, 305x1 (PR!)

Travis: 135x5, 185x5, 225x5, 245x1, 255x1 (PR)

Sweet! This is my first push press PR since I think March of last year.

Yoke:

Me: 250x50ft, 430x50ft, 610x50ft, 710x50ft, 850x10ft (PR), 610x50ftx2, 430x100ftx2

Travis: 250x50ft, 430x50ft, 610x50ft, 710x50ft (PR), 610x50ftx2, 430x100ftx2

850 felt okay to walk with but I took a wrong step and the yoke bent me backwards a bit, so rather than abuse my spine some more we broke the weights down and did lighter runs with more speed. On the second run with 610 I was moving so fast that Travis had to jog to keep up with me.

Farmers walk for 50ft:

Both: 160, 200, 250

Seated arm over arm pull for 100ft

Both: 135 on tire sled, 180 on tire sled, Travis' pickup x3

The truck felt about as hard as the 180 on the tire sled but the nice thing was the truck allowed you get some momentum going unlike the tire sled which forced you to restart the weight each time. We finished with a pretty sick pump in the arms, back and legs.

[Clay Edgin]

DE lower

Yay, last week with bands! haha

Box squats with green woody bands:

95x10, x5, 135x3, 185x3, 245x8 sets of 2 (PR)

Every week I feel like what I did was close to my max and then I put 10-20lbs more on the bar and it goes up. The last set was getting ugly form-wise. On the squats I'm keeping the bar much lower and it goes a long ways towards keeping my back in the proper position.

18" stiff legged deadlifts:

315x12, 365x12, 405x15

After the last set, I sat on some bags of concrete for a while and then had my wife help me up because I couldn't quite make it on my own.

[Clay Edgin]

Another good one.

Bench with green woody bands (50-120lbs):

135x6, 185x3, 245x12 sets of 2 with 3 width grips (PR)

On the 3rd to last set, I got out of the groove a bit and rolled my left shoulder. Interestingly enough, the last couple of sets went easily and without pain.

Reverse grip bench:

135x20, x15, x15

Crap, I forgot how much these smoke my entire arms. In fact, they killed my pressing strength the rest of the night!

Seated press from pins, dead stop each rep:

135x5 (24" ROM), 155x3 (24" ROM) 155x5 (18" ROM) 175x5 (18" ROM), 200x5 (12" ROM)

See, my pressing strength was just murdered! Call the police! Draw the chalk line around my blood-engorged triceps! Alert the next of kin!

Standing tricep extensions:

75x20, x20, x20

At this point, the brain was just shutting down the pressing muscles and each rep took a ton of focus.

[Clay Edgin]

Was going to do my DE squat today, but I got talked into working with Shawn and installing some heavy ass windows in a house his crew is building. It has succeeded in wrecking my body quite well!

[Clay Edgin]

Travis came back into town today so we hit a couple events.

3 board press

Me: 135x10, 185x5, 225x3, 275x2, 315x1, 335x1 (PR), 355x0x0

Travis: 135x10, 225x5, 275x2x2x2, 295x1

I was much closer on the second attempt with 355. I felt like one more attempt and I would have had it but I was just using the 3 boards for a warmup for the log since that seems to work for me.

12" log

Me: 225x4, 260x3, 275x1, 315x0x0x0x0

Travis: 225x2 after a bunch of misses

I video'd the 315 attempts and I should not have failed those lifts. There were a couple where I was only a few inches away from locking it out completely. The board presses might have sapped the last couple inches of press I had left on those. I'll try a max again in a couple more weeks and I expect to hit 315 for sure.

Yoke for 100ft (speed runs):

Both: 285x2, 465x2, 565x3, 465x2, 285x400ft for Travis, 600ft for me then 285x500ft for Travis and 600ft for me.

Yoke felt alright. I had some pretty quick feet on the 565 and was pleased with that. The 285 at the end became more of a test of pain tolerance. After a couple hundred feet, having our arms holding the cross bar caused the hands and arms to tingle like pins and needles. The cardio demands of those runs were secondary to the pain of the shoulders.

Then we did some two hand plate pinch. I worked up to 185 and failed 195. Travis got a new PR of 135 and did a couple holds with 115. Then we ripped phonebooks using several different techniques and filled up the large recycling garbage can. I hit a couple ripping PR's using the gripnrip and sideways techniques. I did not pop any books for fear of peeing in anyone's cereal or defecating on the graves of the old tyme strongmyn.

[Clay Edgin]

I wasn't sure how I would do in this competition because I had only touched the implements twice in six weeks. Turned out my favorite event, the stones, would come back to bite me in the butt.

260 log for reps - 5 reps. This is a PR, less than I thought I was capable of on that day, and bad enough to get second to last among my division. Harrison got 10 and Ryan Bakke got 12. Probably because, as Dan said, the guy has legs for triceps!

285 farmers for 100ft - finished without any drops in 17 seconds. Grip felt good and I thought I was moving quick but I guess not quick enough for a PR. It was still good enough for first in the event.

690 yoke and 750 tire. The tire was screwing with my head before the contest because I was having a hard time with it. Turns out the yoke would kick my butt more than the tire. I dropped the yoke 2 times and wasn't moving nearly as quick as I had done in practice. Got 4 flips on the tire and ended up beating Jarrod Beekly by an inch in this medley. I think I got 3rd in that event.

Axle dead for max. This bar had decent knurling on the left side and very shallow, almost non-existant knurling on the right side. The progression was in 40lb jumps and we started at 445. I passed at 445 and did 485, along with everyone else. Then I made a ballsy move that could have bit me in the ass. I skipped 525 and opted for 565 because I figured a couple guys would get 525 and I wanted to be fresher for my attempt. Turns out everyone missed 525 so instead of doing 525 I pulled 565 for my second attempt and got it. I felt good for 600 with some hitching but I don't know if my grip would have held out for that.

Stones 260-370 to staggered platforms. Did the first three in one motion, loaded the next one from the lap and couldn't quite lap the 370. I hadn't taken the time beforehand to make sure it was dust free and when I grabbed it I couldn't get any stick. I watched Dan and Kevin load the 370 to 63" and not thinking that I had a chance at that platform, I tried the 370 to 61" and got it.

Things that worked for me: Grip came through as usual, olympic lifting shoes worked well on the log press, more work on the 3 board presses and seated presses got me probably 1-2 reps on the logs.

Things that didn't work for me: Not spending more time on the implements, not dusting that 370, underestimating the yoke weight (I thought it was 650).

Got third overall. I was tied for second going into the stones but Bakke loaded all five so that bumped me down.

[supermagnamon]

I wasn't sure how I would do in this competition because I had only touched the implements twice in six weeks. Turned out my favorite event, the stones, would come back to bite me in the butt.

260 log for reps - 5 reps. This is a PR, less than I thought I was capable of on that day, and bad enough to get second to last among my division. Harrison got 10 and Ryan Bakke got 12. Probably because, as Dan said, the guy has legs for triceps!

285 farmers for 100ft - finished without any drops in 17 seconds. Grip felt good and I thought I was moving quick but I guess not quick enough for a PR. It was still good enough for first in the event.

690 yoke and 750 tire. The tire was screwing with my head before the contest because I was having a hard time with it. Turns out the yoke would kick my butt more than the tire. I dropped the yoke 2 times and wasn't moving nearly as quick as I had done in practice. Got 4 flips on the tire and ended up beating Jarrod Beekly by an inch in this medley. I think I got 3rd in that event.

Axle dead for max. This bar had decent knurling on the left side and very shallow, almost non-existant knurling on the right side. The progression was in 40lb jumps and we started at 445. I passed at 445 and did 485, along with everyone else. Then I made a ballsy move that could have bit me in the ass. I skipped 525 and opted for 565 because I figured a couple guys would get 525 and I wanted to be fresher for my attempt. Turns out everyone missed 525 so instead of doing 525 I pulled 565 for my second attempt and got it. I felt good for 600 with some hitching but I don't know if my grip would have held out for that.

Stones 260-370 to staggered platforms. Did the first three in one motion, loaded the next one from the lap and couldn't quite lap the 370. I hadn't taken the time beforehand to make sure it was dust free and when I grabbed it I couldn't get any stick. I watched Dan and Kevin load the 370 to 63" and not thinking that I had a chance at that platform, I tried the 370 to 61" and got it.

Things that worked for me: Grip came through as usual, olympic lifting shoes worked well on the log press, more work on the 3 board presses and seated presses got me probably 1-2 reps on the logs.

Things that didn't work for me: Not spending more time on the implements, not dusting that 370, underestimating the yoke weight (I thought it was 650).

Got third overall. I was tied for second going into the stones but Bakke loaded all five so that bumped me down.

Great job, Clay!!!

[George Champlin]

Great Job Clay

[Left Side]

Fantastic results Clay.

[Clay Edgin]

Travis is moving back up to Farmington so I'll only get to train with him a couple times a month. That sucks, but I wish him the best! We hit the squats hard tonight. Harder than I probably should have actually.

16" box squats:

Up to 315x3 and 225 for a couple sets of 2 with bands, then 5x5 on 225 going to rock bottom without the box

Partial front squats:

225x5 for 3 sets, 275x5 for 2 sets

This exercise is being used to develop the stability and strength to get a stronger leg drive on push presses. I think the ROM was 12-15" and we were touching the bar to the pins on each rep

Good mornings:

135x15, 185x1

On the first rep at 185 I felt my right hamstring pull and that was enough to stop right there. Nothing major and it doesn't hurt any more than the rest of my lower body but I think I may have done too much too soon after the contest. Can you love training too much?