Newsletter #9 -- The 2004 Outback Strongman Challenge! (5/3/04)HouseOfMuscle.com -- Newsletter: Issue 9 ------------------------------------- The 2004 Outback Strongman Challenge! ------------------ Hello Everyone, Hope all is well with you. On Saturday, May 1, 2004 I competed in the Outback Strongman Challenge in Xenia, Ohio. This competition was a little different than others I have entered, in that the competitors were broken up into more than two weight classes. Usually the open amateur competitors are divided into lightweights (under 231 pounds) and heavyweights (231 pounds and over). In this competition there were six weight classes -- under 175, 200-230, 231-265, 265-300 and finally my weight class, the super heavyweights, 301 pounds and up. I weighed in at 318 pounds on my 6'2" frame. There were seven other competitors in my weight class. Since this was a North American Strongman Society (NASS) gold level contest, the eight of us would be competing for two qualifying spots into The NASS National Championships which take place later in the year. I came to this contest with the goal of qualifying for Nationals. Going in I thought most of the events were well suited for me and I thought I had a great chance to do well and qualify. The first event was an overhead lift. Each competitior was instructed to take a 2" thick axle bar, loaded with weight, off of a rack, at shoulder height and somehow, someway, get it fully locked overhead. Most of the competitors took the bar off the rack, onto their chest, and push pressed, or split jerk pressed the weight overhead. When I played around with this event in training, I decided that taking the bar off the rack on my shoulders, behind my head, worked better for me. I developed my techique of taking the bar off the rack like I would do on a high bar squat, backing up, getting as much leg drive as possible into the lift and hopefully locking it out overhead. In the competition each competitor got three attempts to put up a maximum weight. The Willie Wessels Rule (Willie is the President of NASS) was in effect -- If you miss any of your attempts, even if it is your first or second attempt, you are done at that point and are credited with the amount of weight you did on the previous attempt. There is definately some strategy involved here. What you decide to open with and how much weight you jump up on each attempt, is very important. Ideally, you want to win the competition, but you only want to have to lift slightly more than the second place finisher, in order to save energy for later events. I felt really good in warmups, but after seeing what my fellow competitors were opening with, I decided to be conservative and opened with 295 lbs., which went up easily. Then I jumped to 315 lbs., which also was very smooth. At this point, after analyzing what the other guys were doing, I guessed that 335 lbs. was going to win the competition. That is the weight I asked for on my last attempt and I got it relativily easily. I was probably good for 350 to 360 lbs. if I would have needed it. I didn't and I won the competition. I was off to a good start. Next was one of my best events, the 18" deadlift. This is basically the same as a normal deadlift, except the bar starts at 18" off the ground, which is slightly higher than normal, so you can do more weight than in a regular deadlift attempt. This event was also for a maxmimum lift, with three attempts and the Wessels Rule. I felt really strong, as I had in the overhead lift, and I easily ran through my three attempts of 710 lbs., 770 lbs. and 810 lbs. I was probably good for over 900 lbs. if I thought I would have needed it, but I fiqured 810 lbs. would win it. I was wrong. This time my strategic moves failed, as one of my competitors pulled out an impressive 855 lb. lift, that I really didn't think he was going to get, and since I didn't have any attempts left, I would have to settle for second place, even though I knew I could have lifted much more. Oh well, first and second place is a great start for the first two events. I shrugged off the disappointment of not winning the 18" deadlift and moved onto one of my least favorite events, the Conan's wheel. Here the competitors lift a bar, weighted with 550 lbs., up into their arms and walk around a circle, as fast as they can, covering as much ground as possible. The winner is the one who gets the farthest. In training and in previous competitions I have really struggled with this event. I have a lot of trouble breathing when I do this and many times it feels like I am going to black out as I make my attempt to complete the event. Basically, I hadn't been getting very far. But the past doesn't equal the future! I pushed out the negative thoughts of the past, psyched myself up as much as possible, and just went for it. This time I blocked out the fear of blacking out and just kept going. This was my best attempt ever with the Conan's wheel, as I went over 58'. This earned me fourth place and if I would have gone only 4' further, I would have gotten second, so I was really pleased with my performance. With that said, I still hate the Conan's wheel! The next event was a strongman favorite, the Atlas Stones. Each competitor lifts a series of stones that increase in weight onto a platform. Usually the platforms start at high height and then the height you have to lift the stones decends as you move on and as the weight of the stones increases. In this competition all the platforms were relatively low and the same height at 36". Going in, I thought this would be an advantage to me as in the past, I have done well with heavy stones to low platforms, but I have struggled somewhat with the lighter stones to higher platforms. In turned out not to matter. In each event, they ran the competitors through by weight class. The lightest competitors went first and my weight class, the super heavyweights, went last. Just as they were completing the stone lifts of the 265-300 lb. weight class, it started to pour rain. After everyone was forced to escape the onslaught of water by gathering inside the gymnasium of the neighborhood YMCA, it was announced that the competition was being stopped at this point and all the competitors would be judged on the results they had acheived to that point. So, all the weight classes, except mine, completed four events and the super heavyweights completed three events. My first, second and fourth place finish in the three events I competed in was enough to earn me second place in my weight class and qualifed me for the NASS National Championships. That is what I had set out to do and that is what I got done, so everything else (not winning the deadlift, not getting to finish the competition, the rain, etc.) didn't matter. I was very pleased. Now my main focus in training will turn toward the national event. I might enter a few other competitions before then, but I plan to use them as training sessions, with all of my energy going into doing well at Nationals. As always, I will keep you posted. Take care and stay in touch. Joel joel@houseofmuscle.com http://www.HouseOfMuscle.com ------------------------- Attached photos: Joel in action at The 2004 Outback Strongman Challenge. ------------------------- (c) HouseOfMuscle.com -- 2004. All rights reserved. --------------------------------------------------
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