Monday, August 20, 2012

Compressed, Depressed Strongman

The Doomsday Frame: System Weight 740-790lbs


A week ago Sunday I blew my back out doing some Frame Deads with my good friend Douglas Brownfield while preparing to go to Dallas, TX for a North American Strongman Pro-Qualifier. I was more prepared for this show than any other show than I've gone to in a long time but I shot myself in the foot five days out from weigh-ins. 

My Frame, which will now be called Doomsday, has a base weight of 350-400lbs, I don't know which is correct, I've never weighed it. It's inventor, Dave Dirks of Dirks Welding in Yuba City, CA, told me it was 400 base on the poundage per inch of the scrap channeling he used to build it. My strongman buddies have ranged the ways it 'feels' anywhere from 375-500, based on how high gravity is cranked up on training day. I've always gone with 350, just to be safe. 

That day we warmed up with Harness / Rope assisted Frame pulls for three sets of 75' with increasing poundage, next I suited up for Doomsday Deads while Douglas flipped the tire. I was wearing my Inzer Advanced Designs Fusion suit - it's a one ply Dead Lift Suit, and my Inzer Forever Lever Belt. I knew I was warm so the goal was five sets of heavy triples, increasing weight with each set, my aim with this was to replicate the Car Dead Lift event that I'd face in Dallas. First set was Doomsday, empty for 3, it was my first time lifting with with the suit / belt and I wanted to get the feel of it. Doomsday alone was too easy, second set was +110 for another easy triple, this was too easy as well. Third set was +200, fourth was +290, and fifth was +340, all for triples. 

I should have stopped at the fifth set, actually, I shouldn't have been lifting at all, I should have been resting, but zeroing on the Car Dead in Tunica in 2011 was on my mind, I didn't want to zero in Dallas and hadn't felt prepared enough in that event to take a rest day. But it didn't... I called for another pair of quarters, dipped my hips, pulled to a sticking point and then wrecked my way to a lockout. It was a good rep, but my last for the workout and since. 12 minutes after the lift I had a feeling I wouldn't be going to Dallas, it was that bad. 

Later that afternoon I went for a hot stone massage, and woke up Monday the 13th having to lay on the floor to get dressed. I've been adjusted twice a day Mon-Fri since by Dr. Dean Ellyson of Ellyson Chiropractic in Marysville, CA. For the most part, I've got full range of motion back and am getting around pain free - for the most part. Still, I was scheduled to compete in Northern Nevada's Strongest Man, hosted by Gary Montoya in Reno, NV on the 25th. There's no way I could come in prepped for that show either. 

In my downtime, I've had a lot of time to reflect and come up with a game plan for the future. I've been looking at my training log for the week before the injury and here's the events I can point to that led to the broken back...

08AUG12:
- Suit / Belt Box Squats 225x5, 275x5, 315x8, 365x8, 405x3, 455x3, 495x3, 545x1
- Suit / Belt Barbell Deads 485x3, 535x3, 600x3, 650xF

11AUG12:
- Tire Flip LWTx5, HWTx11
- Yoke Walk 555x20', 655x20', 855x50'
- Farmer's Walk 200xP, 300x50'

12AUG12:
- Doomsday Pulls 440x70', 530x70', 620x70'
- Doomsday Deads 350x3, 460x3, 550x3, 640x3, 690x3, 740x1

Prior to my injury I was seeing Doc Ellyson weekly right up until July 23, after Tehama's Strongest Man. My work schedule changed to nights and I neglected to schedule appointments after that, stack the back to back heavy on top and it's almost like I was asking to get hurt. 

If I do recover from this I've got a few things in mind from preventing it from happening again:
1. Weekly Adjustments, even when I don't think I need them or have time
2. 2 Deep Tissue Massages a month
3. Heavy Lower Body Work limited to once a week or once every other week

I don't know when I'll start lifting again. I had planned on going to Police/Fire/Military Nationals as a Heavyweight on Sept 8th, it's probably a better idea to go as a lightweight at this point as it'll be a while before I get back to full strength.

There is a silver lining here. At the end of the day, it was a good lockout at somewhere between 740 & 790 pounds on one of the first few times I've trained the lift. Should I recover completely form this, I do see a 700 pound, and perhaps beyond Barbell Dead Lift (Suit & Straps) in my future even though it definitely won't happen this weekend. Someday I'll learn about peaking and periodization, probably for this year's run at Nationals.