by Thomas Incledon, PhD(c), RD, LD/LN, RPT, NSCA-CPT, CSCS
I have a good friend who likes to joke around and tell me that I need to be kidnapped and taken to a beach. He not only means that I look like Casper the Friendly Ghost, but that I also don’t get out much. He’s right, too. I have lived in Florida for more than two years and I’ve only been to the beach once! Where the hell am I that my time is so occupied, and what the hell is so important that I can’t make time to check out all the tits and ass on South Beach? I’m a lab geek and this is my story.
How It All Began
My story dates back to 1986. I had just won the teenage nationals in one of the alphabet soup powerlifting federations. At 18 or 19 years of age, I squatted 440 pounds, benched around 286 pounds, and deadlifted 520 pounds in the 181-pound weight class. After this I decided to give weightlifting a try. I enrolled into Penn State because my coach was there. Not knowing what to do with school, I started taking courses in Exercise and Sport Science. Pretty soon I realized I had to get involved with research. Like most careers, you start from bottom and work your way up. My early research experience included taking out the garbage, copying articles, running errands, and cleaning the lab. I also keyed in a lot of data. That sounds about as much fun as it is. Weak-willed people often jump ship at this point.
An Evolution Takes Place
With time comes experience, and eventually things started to click in the empty space inside my head. As time went on, the space started to fill up with information. Now I could engage in discussions with graduate students, faculty, and more importantly, pursue my interests. I spent lots of hours reading abstracts on Medline and reading articles in good ole’ Patee Library. I still competed in weightlifting at the Collegiate Nationals, the American Championships, and the Senior Nationals. During this time I was also fortunate enough to participate in a variety of exercise and supplement studies. I learned a great deal about performing radioimmunoassays (RIAs) for hormones to describe the effects of exercise on various hormonal responses.
After graduation from PSU, I made the trip down south to the University of Miami. UM has done many studies on enhancing athletic performance. Now my focus is adding supplements to the mix and learning some new and exciting things.
What’s the Strongman Deal?
After spending the last two years in the lab and not getting out much, I was dying to compete. Around January 2000, I noticed someone had submitted a post on the Strength List (http://www.deepsquatter.com/strength/) about the StrongMan 2000 contest. I took a look at the web site and decided that I had to do it (http://www.geocities.com/huronfs/StrongMan2000.html). So, technically I am not a strongman since I haven’t competed in a contest yet. I have spent a great deal of time educating myself about getting strong and felt I could share my training with my readers. I think you’ll like it and hopefully it will be educational as well as entertaining.
Planning Everything Out
The first step in my preparation was to find out how guys trained for these contests. I had to prepare for events that I never did before (much less heard of), such as:
1. Pushing a 5200 pound truck (later increased to 6300 pounds) followed immediately by dragging a 500 pound sled backwards
2. Flipping a 600 pound tire for 70 feet
3. Walking with two, 150 pound objects for distance
4. Running five 200 pound kegs 25 feet
And then if I am lucky enough to make it into the finals.
1. Arm over arm pulling a 16,000 pound truck
2. Pressing a 200 pound log for reps
3. Lifting stones from 190-300 pounds
In South Florida one of the top trainers is a guy named Juan Carlos Santana (it’s his real name and he’s not related to the musician). Carlos looked over my training and designed my current program. Before Carlos’ program, I was going crazy in the gym. I was lifting heavy quite often. This was probably too much for my current level of conditioning. I don’t use androgens or growth factors, so overtraining is easy, especially when one considers that I didn’t do any preparatory work. I just went into the gym and started hammering away. This was not smart, though. Most likely I would have burnt out from pushing myself too hard too often. This has always been a tendency of mine in the weight room. My coaches loved me in weightlifting ‘cause I would always want to do more and they would have to curse my ass out to stop lifting.
We analyzed the events in the competition and assessed my current weaknesses. My grip, hips, and shoulders were weak and this is not good for a guy that has to carry 150 pounds for distance, lift heavy objects off the ground, and press a log. Training was divided into various phases. For this article I will only cover the first two phases in detail, since we make little adjustments over time and the other phases haven’t started yet. The first phase is General Strength. It is followed by a week of planned active recovery. The second phase is called Special Strength. It is followed by a week of planned active recovery. The next two phases are Specific Strength I and Specific Strength II. Each is followed by a planned active recovery week. After the last recovery week is the competition. The actual names of the phases are meaningless. We chose names simply as a reminder to me what I need to focus on for that portion of my training.
General Strength
For this phase I worked out four days per week. Two days per week I worked out twice per day. I performed movements to strengthen muscles that I would need for competition. I didn’t want to start mimicking exact competition events yet in the gym as this would be too early and lead to my gains reaching a plateau. I wanted to be able to increase my strength after each phase, while transferring it to more event-specific movements.
A sample week would look like:
Day 1: AM Power Snatches 3 sets 5 reps Heavy (3 x 5 H)
Back Squats (wide stance to box) 3 x 5 H
Explosive Good Mornings 3 x 5 Medium (M)
Pull Ups 3 x 5 M
Clean Holds 3 x 30 seconds
Ab Rotations 3 x 5 M
PM Light keg runs (to learn how to run with a keg)
Day 2: AM Push Presses 4 x 5 M
High Pulls 3 x 5 H
Alternating DB Bench Press 4 x 5 M
Alternating DB Upright Rows 3 x 5 H
Wall Marches 4 x 20 seconds
Day 3: AM DB snatches 4 x 5 M
Clean Pulls 3 x 5 M
Barbell Rows 3 x 6 H
Step Ups 4 x 6 M
Day 4: AM Clean and Jerks 4 x 3 H
Back Squats (narrow stance very deep) 3 x 5 H
Bench Press 3 x 5 H
Chin Ups 4 x 5 M
Wood Chops 3 x 10 M
PM Push Truck – to work on technique, not all out
The adjustment made each week was to add one set to each workout so that by the fifth week my volume was 3-5 sets greater for each workout vs week one workouts. I also did a number of abdominal exercises that I picked up off of the Strength List from regular contributors such as Mel Siff, PhD. The exercises were alternated so that one week an exercise was heavy, and then the next week it would be medium for that workout. I kept my rest periods to two minutes or less and would often superset antagonistic movements within a workout. This was done to improve my conditioning. My strength increased in all movements, although my left shoulder was bugging me from the push presses. I held back on the last push press workout since it wouldn’t make any sense to aggravate the joint. The General Strength Phase lasted 5 weeks and was followed by a week of active recovery. The week of active recovery included one-legged squats, some stability ball work, some light jumping, and sprinting. Nothing was very challenging and by the end of the week, I was dying to train. I also felt very strong - like I wanted to lift something very heavy like Rosie O’Donnell (ok, maybe not that heavy).
Special Strength
When I started this phase, my joints felt good, my muscles were not sore. My grip strength and hip strength improved considerably.
A sample week would like:
Day 1: AM Power Cleans 3 sets 5 reps Heavy (3 x 5 H)
Keg Deadlifts or Zercher Deadlifts 3 x 5 H
Front Squats 3 x 5 M
DB Step Holds 3 x 30 seconds
1 Arm Rotations 3 x 15 M
PM Light keg runs - just working on form and technique
Day 2: AM Military Press 3 x 5 H
Alternating DB Inclines 3 x 5 M
Standing Cable Rows 4 x 5 H
Wall Marches 3 x 20 seconds
1 Arm Rear Reaches 3 x 10
Day 3: AM Keg carry/Load 2 x 6 M
Farmer’s Walk 2 x 3 laps M
Tire Flip 2 x 10
Day 4: AM Clean and Push Jerks 3 x 10 H
Cheat Curls 3 x 10 M
Front Squats 3 x 5 H
Incline Bench 3 x 5 M
Barbell Rows 3 x 5 M
1 Legged Anterior Reaches 4 x 15
PM Truck Push/Pull – 2 x 70 feet M
Diet For General and Special Strength Phases
The weight division limit is now 220 pounds. I started training for this around 200 and now as I write this weigh in at 211. I managed to gain 11 pounds in about 8 weeks (give or take a few days). I would like to train above 220 pounds and actually drop some weight for the event. We’ll see how my much longer my girlfriend can put up with my food intake. My actual diet is almost exactly like The Get Big Diet.
A sample day with supplements:
5:30 -6:00AM: Wake up and wonder where the hell I am at. I immediately drink either PowerDrive, ProEndorphin (sometimes both) and will occasionally add 20 mg ephedrine to the mix.
6:30 - 7:00 AM: Pre-workout shake made with 2 scoops of whey protein, 1 teaspoon glutamine, orange juice and/or other fruit, green tea, 1 tablespoon extra virgin olive oil, 1 tablespoon flax seed oil. I also take 500 mg vitamin C, 400 IUs vitamin E mixed tocopherols and tocotrienols, 300 mg ALA, and 30 mg CoQ10.
7:45 - 8:15 AM: I’m either kicking ass and taking names in the gym or I’m being crushed by huge weights. For me there is no in-between.
9:15 - 9:30 AM: I drink a mixture of ribose, glutamine, and dextrose.
9:45 - 10:00 AM: Post workout shake #1: 3 scoops whey, fi cup maltodextrin, 1 cup grape juice, 1 teaspoon glutamine
10:45 - 11:00 AM: Same shake as before
12:00- 12:30 PM: Chicken or fish with vegetables, maybe a little pasta
2:30- 3:00 PM: Yogurt, nuts, fruit
5:00- 5:30 PM: Chicken or fish with vegetables, maybe a little pasta
7:30-8:00 PM: Whatever my girlfriend makes. She reads my spreadsheet with my nutrient requirements that I keep on the refrigerator and makes me something nice. Usually grilled salmon or lean beef with a salad and soup with vegetables.
10:00 - 10:30 PM: My last meal is usually yogurt or milk with whey, nuts, and fruit. I also take 500 mg vitamin C, 400 IUs vitamin E mixed tocopherols and tocotrienols, 300 mg ALA, and 30 mg CoQ10. Right before my head crashes onto the pillow, I take 1 zinc tablet.
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