Hey folks,
It’s been a long and busy summer! Lots of travel, lots of change, and now I have 6 months to gear up for the Arnold Strongman Fitness competition. As most of you will surely agree, the summertime is the most difficult time of the year to stick to solid fitness and nutrition plan; between vacations, patios, barbecues and parties, it’s a constant challenge to stay on track! Over the course of the summer, from May through August, I was testing a new program for Mr. Eric Cressey. It was great to have a detailed plan, as it saved me a ton of time and tinkering that would have come with my own programming. My nutrition was a bit all over the place- far too much alcohol and restaurant meals- but in the end my weight stayed the same and although I didn’t track it ,my body composition is certainly no worse.
On August 31st I tested out my 1-rep maximums in the squat, overhead press and deadlift, and in spite of the unpredictable nature of my summer months, I achieved personal bests in all 3 lifts. I must give a lot of credit to the programming of Eric Cressey, as I haven’t achieved such results with my own programming in quite some time. I learned a lot, and my plan from here until March will involve a lot of the same principles used during these last 4 months.
Like a good boy, I recorded all 3 personal best lifts. In sequence, here are my 3 tested lifts at 175 lbs body wright: 430 lb squat, 315 lb overhead press, and 590 lb deadlift:
I was happy with my squat results, but this is a lift that must come up over the next few months; my technique is better than it has ever been in the past, so I’m confident that I now have the necessary base to see steady improvement. As you can probably tell from my post-lift reaction, I was ecstatic with my overhead result. My previous best was 285 lbs, so the 30 lb improvement was pleasantly surprising; I had aspirations to break the 300 lb mark, but getting to 3 plates is a huge milestone for me. Finally, I’m content with the deadlift result, and I’m sure I’ve got 600 lbs in the tank. I let the bar drift out in front when I pulled it off the ground, and I’m surprised that it didn’t cost me the lift. With that being said, it’s also a sign that I can surely pull more should I iron out the technical kinks.
My training will now gradually move towards training specifically for Strongman- I need to start getting my hand on the appropriate implements- but without losing track of the main goal: get strong as hell. My weight is currently fluctuating between 175 and 180 lbs, but I need to get this up around 190 by December, at which point I can lean out and cut down for the beginning of March.
So there you have it- an update on me, and a promise that I’ll be pumping out more Fit in a Fat World content on a weekly basis. I currently have a list of about 10,000 things to write about, so it’s just a matter of finding the time to put my thoughts to my fingers. As always, should any of my readers have a specific topic that you’d like me to address, please don’t hesitate to let me know! Additionally, Cressey will soon be releasing his new program to the public, and once on sale I will let you all know- it’ll be a great buy for anyone interested in getting stronger and/or feeling better.
That’s all for now- Happy Hump Day!
- DW
