Schuna's Training Log

[schunajm]

Training Log

090108

Tire:

2 flips x 840 W/U

5 flips x 840

8 flips x 840 (sub 60 seconds for sure, we didn't time it, but I think it somewhere around 50 seconds or less maybe? Mike can attest to this)

14" Car Deadlift:

370 x 5

570 x 3

660 x 4

750 + Green Band x 15

650 x 8

[schunajm]

Training Log

090308

Weight - 236.4

Log Clean & Press:

95 x 4, 185 x 3, 185 x 3 W/U

235 x 7 (60 sec.)

Axle Push Jerk:

125 x 4

215 x 3

245 x 3

270 x 3

270 x 3

Lunge Position Single-Arm Cable Row:

145 x 10

175 x 10

175 x 10

DB Hammer Curls:

40 x 15

50 x 12

60 x 10

Log Clean & Press for reps went good yesterday. I think I might be able to squeeze one more rep in, we'll see. I felt a twinge in my left bicep following the log. Didn't feel anything during the set, but that bicep has been kind of sore lately with all of the event training we've been doing. It just feels sore today, so I think its just a slight tweak. Probably gonna not do any training that involves the biceps from here on out till the contest. I'll just have to make sure I really warm-up my biceps and perhaps put an ACE bandage on it or something for a little compression.

Brouse, you missed it yesterday. This girl at the Wellness Center (probably a frosh) was just sort of hanging around us by the platform. I ask her what she wanted and she said she was waiting for the rack to do shrugs . It gets even better, she goes to the other rack and does shrugs with just an empty bar. Then comes back over to us, right after Mike finished his work set on the log, and asks what we are doing (referring to what type of training are we doing). So Mike tells her that we are amateur strongmen and she then asks why use the "buoy instead of the pole" . I was ready to crap to my pants. Wish you would have been there.

[easyWeight]

Maybe you should have just given her THE pole

[schunajm]

Maybe you should have just given her THE pole

She was right up Mike's alley

[Matt Brouse]

Brouse, you missed it yesterday. This girl at the Wellness Center (probably a frosh) was just sort of hanging around us by the platform. I ask her what she wanted and she said she was waiting for the rack to do shrugs . It gets even better, she goes to the other rack and does shrugs with just an empty bar. Then comes back over to us, right after Mike finished his work set on the log, and asks what we are doing (referring to what type of training are we doing). So Mike tells her that we are amateur strongmen and she then asks why use the "buoy instead of the pole" . I was ready to crap to my pants. Wish you would have been there.

Thanks to a wildly visual imagination I am having a heart attack right now.

[Chris Mathison]

HAhahaha.. Its going to be hard for me not to refer to a log as a buoy from now on. Im not even gonna touch the pole one.

[Matt Brouse]

Im not even gonna touch the pole one.

That's what she said.

(Oh, God, now we're ruining John's log too...)

[schunajm]

Im not even gonna touch the pole one.

That's what she said.

(Oh, God, now we're ruining John's log too...)

No worries. I had to share it, you only get moments like that every so often.

[schunajm]

Training Log

090508

Farmers:

165 x 80 ft

255 x 60 ft (8.29) seconds

Yoke:

240 x 80 ft

440 x 80 ft

580 x 60 ft

650 x 60 ft (9.6) seconds

[schunajm]

Training Log

090608

Sled Drag:

225 + 255 Keg on sled x 60 ft

Keg C & P:

4 x 4 x 160

1 x 225

1 x 225

[schunajm]

Training Log

090908

Weight - 235

Clean & Push Press:

135 x 3

185 x 3

225 x 2

255 x 2

235 x 2

225 x 2

DB Curls:

20 x 15

40 x 12

55 x 12

DB Hammer Curls:

60 x 12

Stretch

[easyWeight]

Good luck at Nats this weekend John. Kick some ass!

[schunajm]

Good luck at Nats this weekend John. Kick some ass!

Thanks

[easyWeight]

Congratulations on your PRO CARD win at Nats John!! If I'm not mistaken, you're now ND's ONLY resident professional athlete!

[schunajm]

Thanks Darin

Edited September 15, 2008 by John Schuna

[chris klavetter]

second contest ever and now you are pro. Sick man. Just sick

Congratulations.

[schunajm]

091308 - Day 1 - NAS Nationals

Timpanogos Harley-Davidson, Lindon, Utah

Event #1 - Yoke - 700 lb x 60 ft (10.06 sec) - 1st place

Yoke was very solid. Small diameter-cross bars though. A lot of LW competitors were taking many runs with near competition weights. Not sure how smart that was. I did my standard warm-up, picked a 700 once, and then took 500 for 30 ft down and back just for feel. I was in the last group because my height required a higher peg hole on the uprights (they went from lowest to highest for each weight class). I got a good pick, and tried to accelerate at first will little success. The course had a slight pitch change about 1/3-1/2 of the way through. I stuck with it though and really charged through the finish.

Event #2 - Farmer's Walk - 285 lb x 60 ft (8.78 sec) - 2nd place

Farmer's handles were very nice, relatively high pick compared to our cylinders and handles had plenty of grip. Got a good pick and stayed steady. Again the pitch change was somewhat hard to manage, but I stayed consistent and got a fast run.

Event #3 - Tire Flip - 650 lb x 60 ft (29.75 sec) - 12th place

Tire was extremely light. However, it was very hard to get hands underneath during the grip. Also the tire wasn't very tall (tire not very wide). Wasn't able to stay back from the tire and drive forward and into the tire with the shoulders like usual. Had to get close and curl it up. Willie Wessels pionted it out to me when I was done that I was pulling up my sweatpants after every rep (nervous habit?), he said it cost me some time. A bigger problem was the wobble from a bad flip I had. Tried to correct the tire back into the center but it just wobbled more.

Event #4 - Log Clean & Press for Reps - Clean each rep - 230 lbs x 60 sec. (7 reps) - tied for 8th place

I hit this in training 1.5 weeks earlier. Was hoping for 8 reps but it wasn't meant to be. Felt good about the effort though and felt it would still keep me in the mix.

Event #5 - Stone load over 48" bar - 300 lb x 60 sec. (11 reps) - 1st place

I knew that I could match anyone in the field in this event before the competition started, but I didn't expect to see the 10 reps that Jason Sparks put up before me. I kind of figured 8 and at the most 9 reps would be the most anyone else would do. When I got to the stone it was covered in crap. So much tacky and garbage on it, the first pick was somewhat uncormfortable. Got a good groove going though and really picked it up on the last half to load it that many times in 60 sec.

Day 1 Concluded - 221 points - 1st place overall LW

Event #6 - Press Medley - (105# DB, 240# axle, 260# log, 275# bar) - Press in any order (34.12 sec) - 10th place

This was my biggest mental hurdle of the contest. I knew that getting by this (log press I knew would be tough) was essential for me to have a shot. I did the barbell first and easily cleaned and jerked it. Then went to the DB -snatched it, then did the axle - clean & push press, then did the log clean & strong push press. I was pumped and knew I was in the mix for it all at this point.

Event #7 - Car Deadlift 18" - (Approx. weight 700+ in the hands) very heavy - 18 reps -tied for 2nd place

This thing was HEAVY. The squat suit helped, but still very heavy. I lost count of how many reps I got. But they said 18 when I was done. Sucked the life out of me, very tough, a lot heavier than I expected.

Event #8 - Block Load & Truck Push Medley - 250# & 275# blocks x 30 ft & 9800# truck push - 60 ft (30 sec.)- 1st place

There was a lot of debate as to the best technique. Tom Mutaffis and I were discussing this a lot, and decided that tipping the blocks onto the toes and then picking it was easiest. This was the technique used by my competition at the end (Tom Kauffmann - they were his blocks). I picked the first block later than him. Made up some ground at the second pick and he was just slightly ahead of me at the truck push. I decided to put my shoulder into the bar and just give it hell. I got the better lane via coin flip, which helped. I made up the initial deficit and won. Jason Sparks actually had a time in between Kauffmann and I.

Overall NAS LW National Champion - 1st Place

-Very good meet for me overall. Kauffman was behind me by 2 points at the end and Mutaffis by 20 points. It was a tough competition, feel very sore as I write this post. I didn't imagine that I would be able to make this transition this fast and win my pro card at only my second contest.

-I just want to thank my training partners for helping out and teaching me a lot in the last year - Mike Caruso and Matt Brouse in particular. I also need to thank Reese Olson. His knowledge and experience with training and his keen eye for analysis has really helped Mike and I improve. Not to mention he invites us to his house to train with his equipment twice a week. Can't thank you enough Reese. I also want to thank the entire Fargo strongman crew - including James, Darin, and Kelly.

-I'm gonna take a week off and do nothing and it's going to feel great!

-Future points I need to work on though. If I'm going to compete with Justin Blake, or Spybrook, or the Nowack's or any of the top LW Pro's for that matter I gotta get my pressing up some more. It has come quite a ways over the last year, but I need to make some bigger jumps to shore up my weak points. Additionally, I need to get my deadlift up some more. There is no substitute for a strong deadlift in strongman. The training carry-over is rivaled by no other gym lift. Just some thoughts.

Edited September 16, 2008 by John Schuna

[Guest drfish]

John,

Congrats! What an impressive accomplishment, even more since you're still sort of a strongman newbie compared to others. Good luck as a pro!

What's this about being a national champion before... in shot put??? Any other sports you plan on becoming a national champion in

Kelly

[schunajm]

Training Log

092208

Weight - 238

Cleans:

135 x 4, 185 x 4, 225 x 3, 225 x 3, 225 x 3

Deadlift:

225 x 10, 315 x 10, 335 x 10

Leg Curls:

95 x 12, 105 x 12, 105 x 12

Pull-Throughs:

3 x 12 x 250

[easyWeight]

Not that it matters, but I WAS wrong about the Nats thread. I was thinking about Iowa. It's pretty easy to get mixed up when you've only done two contests

Edited September 23, 2008 by easyWeight

[schunajm]

Not that it matters, but I WAS wrong about the Nats thread. I was thinking about Iowa. It's pretty easy to get mixed up when you've only done two contests

It was better that no one knew who the hell I was. A lot of the guys who were mentioned in the predictions as top contenders finished within the top 10. If I had done some more contests I'm sure a lot of others would have known who I was. However, it was kind of nice to be a dark horse and come out of nowhere to win it.

[Matt Brouse]

Not that it matters, but I WAS wrong about the Nats thread. I was thinking about Iowa. It's pretty easy to get mixed up when you've only done two contests

It was better that no one knew who the hell I was. A lot of the guys who were mentioned in the predictions as top contenders finished within the top 10. If I had done some more contests I'm sure a lot of others would have known who I was. However, it was kind of nice to be a dark horse and come out of nowhere to win it.

Others will attest to personal converstations wherein I named you directly as "a top contender" or "a likely winner" on several occasions.

[schunajm]

Others will attest to personal converstations wherein I named you directly as "a top contender" or "a likely winner" on several occasions.

Thanks for the vote of confidence, I appreciate it. I knew that I would be able to do pretty well, but I just wasn't sure how stacked the competition was. I only recognized two other LW's at nationals who were at Iowa as well (Ty Roberts- who finished 3rd at Iowa as one of them, and then some other - don't remember his name though). Now I'm gonna have to prove myself all over again in the Pro-ranks though.

I was telling Mike that I'm probably gonna shoot for the St. Pat's meet in South Carolina next year. They have some pretty cool events and plus its during our spring break here. But till then, Mike and I gotta get our Deadlifts up, and I gotta get my pressing up (its come up quite a bit, but I need a lot more).

Blake PM'd me to congratulate me on the win on Marunde, and I went and took a look at his log after. I suppose you already did, but did u catch his 735 DL video? Outrageous to be pulling that weighing between 210-215. As long as he stays healthy he is gonna be the guy to beat in the weight class I think - too fast, too athletic - and too damn strong.

[schunajm]

Training Log

092408

Weight - 239

Military Press:

3 x 10 x 135

Pull-Ups:

3 x 12 x BW (Green Band Assisting)

Seated Cable Row:

3 x 10 x 120

DB Skull Krushers:

3 x 12 x 30

DB Hammer Curls:

3 x 10 x 50

Rope AB Curl-Downs:

3 x 10 x 120

Front Lateral Raise and External Rotation:

3 x 10 x 20

[Matt Brouse]

Front Lateral Raise

Surely you see the stupidity in this statement here.

One of those conversations was with Mike. And he concurred. Don't let him lie...

Dude, LW pro's have always been horrifying to me. The HW's, I get it, they're huge...they're strong. It makes sense, but Blake and Porter and Spy and them...yuck.