Filed under: Uncategorized
Here is some video of the stone lifting at Team boss on the 4th of Feb.
Filed under: Nick
Here are a few of my better videos from the last year. I am ready to up the bar for 2012!
Rope Climb
First strongman comp at 230 body weight
Will strongman!
First Slater strongman comp 3 videos
Tire flip Slater comp
Hand over hand drag Slater comp
2011 Jackson Highlander
2011 Blueberry Highland Games
Lite Rim #3 Horse Shoe Heart
2011 Throw For A Cause Highland Games
45lbs Gripmas Sledge Lever
260lb 2″ V-bar
2 Deck Rip
8″ wrench bend
2″ Bar Climb
Andrew Durniat training.
Zach Gallmann Of Team Boss hitting 400 overhead on the axle
 Duriant Grip Strength ContestFeb 19, 2011
Teresa (my wife), Nick Rosendaul and I met up at the Park and Ride and rode up to Andrew’s listening to music by Nick’s band – pretty good stuff! We got there early and started walking around meeting everyone. It may have been a novice “grip” contest but it sure didn’t look like these guys were new to a weight room, everyone appeared to have some good overall strength. Once again I’d like to say how nice everyone I have met in our little sport is, and this group wasn’t any different, good people one and all. First event was MMS Grippers. Andrew gave a short demo of how to set and away we went. A few guys had a clue and a couple had obviously done a lot of gripper work. Ryan Jandry closed a 175# gripper – definitely not his first day!! Here’s one for you, about halfway through, I showed everyone how to place and set a gripper – for anyone who has every seen (and laughed at) me and grippers, this had to be a laugh. Thankfully these guys didn’t know – I hoped it helped them a little. The lack of experience really showed here as many people improved from attempt to attempt with just that little bit of practice. Euro pinch on Andrews setup. First up was 48 mm – hardly anyone really knew what width to use. 54 mm was the only other width used during the contest. Brandon Gerber (only 17 years old) pinched over bodyweight and Ryan Jandry pinched 201 – then did an unofficial 206#. In his first ever contest! Axle DL. By now the nerves were settling down some and the DL was something everyone was familiar with. Hand size quickly showed itself here – with Ryan doing 368 and Malcolm Majesky 362# to top the field. Best lightweight was Josh McDonald at 287 and Andrew Pantke with 280#. Next up was the Medley. Andrew had I think 37 items laid out, with a little bit of everything including an Inch DB. I was thinking to myself – Inch DB, Novice contest – what the heck? And then Malcolm just walked over and stood up with it and Ryan had it way up but not enough. They aren’t making Novices like they used to I guess! Wrist Roller. I saw the picture of Andrew’s set up before I went but dang this was impressive. It was up on a platform high enough to get a nose bleed! The chain instead of weights idea was pretty good but I think everyone ended up being stronger than Andrew had anticipated – it ended up being a speed event. And this caused the only hitch in what was an otherwise superbly run contest. We used the percentage score sheet that my son Josh had made up and the one we have used for many contests now. But we never anticipated scoring an event where the lowest number was the best number. Thankfully Josh was home and a few phone calls and a corrected score sheet email from Josh straightened things out. My impressions – Andrew put on a really well thought out and run contest for his first ever. He had Brent Barbe, Nick, and I there to help out with judging, loading, scoring, coaching etc – extra hands are always a good idea but seldom possible as usually everyone wants to compete. It was the first Novice contest I know of and it showed that there are some real strong people out there interested in Grip. A few qualified for Nationals – at a Novice competition – Wow! Experience (or lack of) really showed, Brent, Nick, Andrew and I coached and corrected little things all day and you could see the progress as the day went on. Having strength and exhibiting it during a contest is two different things. I think everyone had a good time – there was a pretty nice crowd of spectators there but we need to teach them to open up – this was the quietest grip contest I have ever been to. All in all a really good day! |
Filed under: Doc, Health and Longevity, Uncategorized, Wolfhound Protocol
After training consistently for 13 years, I have figured a few things out. A simple plan has coalesced out of the journey. A plan that I like to call The Wolfhound Protocol, because every training template is better when given a awesome name and that was the best I could do.
The genesis of The Wolfhound Protocol lies in the balancing act of a physically demanding job with fluid working hours and a love of physical endeavor outside work. My job requires that I be able to climb stairs while carrying up to 100lbs of tools. I love to play rugby with the neighborhood kids. At work, I may be called upon to push 500 pound weight carts up a ramp to load a truck. Recently, I discovered the Highland Games heavy events which fit well into a long time passion for lifting stones. Along with these things, I am committed to being able to pursue my passions well into my 9th decade. The Wolfhound Protocol seeks to balance the three demands of work, play, and longevity by building significant bodily strength, by pursuing a high level of cardiovascular and muscular endurance, and by practicing disciplines that sow seeds to be reaped in retirement.
Strength development in The Wolfhound Protocol is addressed by choosing a simple, long-term approach to progression. I have personally used Steve Shafley’s Power Ladders, Jim Wendler’s 5/3/1, and Bill Starr’s 5×5 all to good effect. The key is not the specific tactic, but the big picture. We are looking for strength gains over the long term in a sustainable program that allows for the other demands upon our time. The beauty of the progression schemes I listed above is that I can cut any given session down to simply the main lifts and be done in a short amount of time while still making progress towards my strength goals.
Conditioning, as I like to call it, is a much talked about topic with lots of silly terms put to it. The advent of CrossFit has made conditioning a hill people will die on. The Wolfhound Protocol asks one simple question of conditioning, “Can I do what I want without feeling like I’m going to keel over?”. I think it really is that simple. Can I chug up 9, 10, or 40 flights of stairs? Can I keep up with high school kids for a 2 hour game of pickup rugby? Can I do those things and still function well at work the next day? If the answer is yes, then my conditioning is good. If no, then I need to figure out what I need to do to improve.
“Abraham lived a good, long life and was buried with his ancestors.” That line from the Bible is something I want said of me. Not just a good life, not just a long life. A good, long life. I have a dear friend who, in his 60′s, models the “go anywhere, do anything” capacity that I want to sow into my physical self. I do this by eating a sensible diet, by consistently practicing yoga, by pursuing interests outside the weightroom. Each of those disciplines is another brick built in the edifice of a life well lived.
Chris Rice is my hero.
Now all that is well and good, but how do you turn that into a plan for today, this month, this year. Well, I do things like this:
January 1 to March 31 No competitions. Focus on long, slow distance work and increasing muscle mass.
April 1 to June 30 Tune up competitions. Focus is on increasingly specific work for competition. I begin throwing sessions 2 or 3 times a week and reduce volume in the gym to a main lift and specific conditioning work for strongman.
July 1 to September 30 Goal Competitions. Continue throwing sessions; increase frequency to 3 or 4 times per week. Gym time is restricted to a single main lift per session and practice for an event in the upcoming strongman contests.
October 1 to December 31 Taper. I may compete, or not. I reduce throwing sessions, and begin increasing volume at lower intensities on gym work. Return to longer conditioning efforts.
That’s it. In a bloody, great nutshell, I plan my training around this thought process. I am sure I will continue to adjust it, but for now I’ve seen some very good progress.
As I’ve shared previously, this month at work has been very physically demanding. Therefore, I’ve trained twice a week throughout the month.
I am currently in a “hypertrophy” phase of training. I have been emphasizing more volume on the assistance lift with the intention of adding some more muscle. Given that work has been pretty exhausting, I have used just one assistance exercise per session so that I am able to do what is asked of me at work the next day.
Strength: I’ve been using Jim Wendler’s 5/3/1 program to plan my weight progression on the main lifts. I hit all weights with additional reps on the final set in every session. Assistance exercises for the month of January were Press and Glute Ham Raises.
Conditioning: The Concept2 rower is my winter conditioning tool of choice. I am continuing to experiment with the exact tactics to use in order to achieve my goals. I rotated three different workouts. 500 meter repeats with 2 minutes rest. 1000 meter repeats with 4 minutes rest. Row 20 minutes. I may increase the number of sessions I do on the rower based upon what is asked of me at work.
Mobility/Flexibility: I did really terribly. Maybe three sessions of stretching/self massage in the entire month. This will be an area of focus going forward.
There you have it. Another month closer to my goals.
I (Doc) work as an elevator mechanic. My trade requires a wide variety of skills. Motor and generator theory, relay logic, microprocessors, complex mechanical systems, and hoisting all are part of our work.
My job can be very physically demanding as well, running a chain hoist for 8 hours, dragging tools up the stairs (cause the elevator’s broke). Right now, I am working on a job that is the epitome of physically demanding. We are modernizing a freight elevator.
The cab where passengers and freight ride on this particular elevator is the size of a 2 car garage. Capacity on the elevator is 16,000 pounds. You can imagine that every part on this elevator is big and heavy. In fact, even the tooling we use to disassemble and update the various systems on the elevator is big and heavy.
An example, we had to use a chain hoist rated to lift 2000 pounds to lift the chain hoist (rated at 15 tons) we are using to pick the car.
And that is precisely why I train the way I do. Strength plus conditioning, add some yoga. Rinse. Repeat.
