Newsletter #7 -- THE X-TREME STRONGMAN SHOWDOWN! (2/17/04)HouseOfMuscle.com -- Newsletter: Issue 7 ------------------------------------- THE X-TREME STRONGMAN SHOWDOWN! ------------------ Hello Everyone, Hope all is well with you. On Saturday, February 7th, 2004, I competed in The X-Treme Strongman Showdown in Wilmington, MA (just outside Boston). This was a Platinum Plus event, the highest competition level for the North American Strongman Society. It was also a Pro-Am, so I got to see some of the top American Pros in action, including the professional winner of the event, Phil Pfister. I took 9th place in the heavyweight amateurs. I was disappointed with my placing, but there were some personal highlights. The first event was the Squat for reps. The heavyweight amateurs did 575 lbs. for 60 seconds, but this weight was too light. It came down to who timed the up and down commands of the judge the best, as most of us just ran out of time. I did 20 reps easily, which tied me for second place, and I had one rep taken away for not waiting long enough for the up command. When the 60 seconds was up I felt like I could have done 10 more reps easily, if given the time. The winner, Van Hatfield, did 21 reps, so it was a bit frustrating. The heavyweight amateurs should have used the same weight as the Pros (I think they did around 650 lbs.). It would have been fun to go head-to-head with the Pros on this event as I felt really strong in the squat that day. The next event was the the Farmer's Walk. It was pretty heavy, over 300 lbs., and it was for distance (or time if you completed the 200 ft. course). One of my strong points is my grip, so although I am not very fast on this event, I thought I could just march along and eventualy finish the entire 200 feet. Unfortunately, it slipped out of my hands around 120 feet, so I finished around the middle of the pack on this event. Only two guys finished the entire 200 feet. Next was the Medley. The course consisted of a big fingal finger (575 lbs.), 3 flips with a 900 lb. tire and then pushing a big truck to the finish line. Going in I was worried about the fingal finger, as I had never done it before this competiton, but it proved not to be that bad as I got it over relatively easy. The problem was the tire. I just couldn't get a grip on it. Try as I might I couldn't get my hands underneath it. I was disgusted with myself, as I have flipped much heavier tires before. The end result was finishing toward the bottom on this event. Things continued to be tough for me with the next event, the Conan's Wheel. To date, I am not good at this event. I just haven't figured it out yet. This wheel was heavy, like 650 lbs., and I only moved it a short distance and finished toward the bottom of this event also. I took out my frustration on the next event, the Hercules Hold. A pair of Mini Coopers were trying to pull our arms off, but I held on for over 26 seconds and won the event. Interestingly, the Pros did exactly the same weight in this event and only two of them bettered my time. The winner, Phil Pfister, who arguably has one of the best grips in the world, won the event with a time slightly over 33 seconds. It would have been interesting to get to go after Phil in this event. If I would have known what I had to do to win, I feel I may have been able to hold on the extra 7 seconds, but I was very pleased with being the best heavyweight amateur in this event. Last was the stones. I have definitely improved on this event, but I am best at doing heavy stones to low platforms. I struggle with the lighter stones to higher platforms and the first platform at this contest was pretty high. It is very frustrating to not get up the first stone, when you know if you could just get through the first few stones, you would have a real good chance of doing the heavier stones. But, it doesn't matter how heavy a stone you can lift to a low platform, if you can't even lift the first light stone to a high platform. I just have to keep working at it. By not getting up the first stone, I of course finished toward the bottom in this event and it was a very disappointing way to finish. After the emotions settled down and I was able to reflect, I realized it wasn't a total loss. I did win one event, and I did really well in the squat. I didn't get injured and, most importantly, I tried as hard as I could. That's what it's really all about, isn't it? Giving it everything you've got and enjoying the journey instead of the reward. Take care and stay in touch. Joel Sward Founder/Owner Of HouseOfMuscle.com joel@houseofmuscle.com http://www.HouseOfMuscle.com ------------------------- Attached photos: Joel Sward in action at the 2004 X-TREME Strongman Showdown ------------------------- (c) HouseOfMuscle.com -- 2004. All rights reserved. --------------------------------------------------
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