ishred Posted July 27, 2004 Share Posted July 27, 2004 I'm training for an upcoming strongman constest. Farmers is one of the events. Last nite I did some suitcase deadlifts. Couldn't manage more than 155lbs for a few reps with either hand. The bar just wanted to roll out. My thumb barely touchs my other fingers on a standard oly bar. How much weight should i work up to for either hand on this exercise? Should I get a thicker bar to train on instead of an oly bar? Am i doomed for this event given my hand size(just under 7")? Should I do suitcase deads every training session? what other exercises will increase individual supporting hand strength? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SqeezeMasterFlash Posted July 27, 2004 Share Posted July 27, 2004 To get better at farmers, train farmers. If you don't have farmers implements, doing farmers with sandbags will help build supporting grip. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jeff Parker Posted July 27, 2004 Share Posted July 27, 2004 The handles can vary from event to event but most are 1.3 inches. As far as the weight goes, it depends on weight class and how long you walk. Most lightweight or Middleweight seem to be from200 to 240, and the heavyweight seem to be from 225 to 275 per hand. The longer distance they have you walk, usually the lighter the weight. In my comp in Nov the weight will be 240 per hand and u walk 40 feet down and 40 feet back. For me, when I did lots of thickbar it really helped my farmers because I was weak in the thumbs. But nothing substitutes like training the event itself. Good luck with your training. What contest is it that you are doing? Corey St. Clair wrote an article on bodybuilding.com about how to make your own farmers to train with. I just bought an arc welder and made them as close as I could to the real thing, but you should definatly try to come up with something that mimics the actual event as best as you can. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ishred Posted July 27, 2004 Author Share Posted July 27, 2004 funny you mention that....i just started school for welding. When we get to the actually welding portion i'm gonna make alot of stuff.....grip tools, handles, etc. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jeff Parker Posted July 27, 2004 Share Posted July 27, 2004 You will be able to make some cool stuff then! I just kinda winged it and my farmers fell apart after I welded it. After I patched it up again they have worked great. I also made a super yolk mostly out of steel I found in the garbage. It works great but the welds look awful and im always wonderin when its gonna break! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
danegarreau Posted July 27, 2004 Share Posted July 27, 2004 Doing suitcase deadlifts is a lot harder than deadlifting the farmers bars. Simply due to the fast that olympic bars roll and farmers do not. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ishred Posted July 27, 2004 Author Share Posted July 27, 2004 what kind of weight should i work up to on suitcase deads? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rbrown Posted July 27, 2004 Share Posted July 27, 2004 what kind of weight should i work up to on suitcase deads? As much as you can do. Try to hold them for about 30 seconds. Most farmers events do not last much longer than 30 seconds if you are fast. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lyle Posted July 28, 2004 Share Posted July 28, 2004 I agree, get a good weight "hard" weight and practise the walk, fast short steps with your head up, I found that the deadlifts didn't accurately mimic the walk, as it feels different in the legs, the grip part is static and you hold on for all you're worth but unlike the deadlift your shifting the total weight from one leg to the other, and turning, I think you should be practising the event, I do it once a week or every second workout as a finisher, when I get the the walk I'm tired, so hopefully in competition I'll suprise myself, I'll let you know, I'm competing Aug7th with 250lb implements Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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