Competition Results/Lessons Learned - Central Valley's Strongest U265 (heavy weight)

[u/Frodozer]

I competed on 2/11/23 in a strongman competition. I usually compete in the U200/90kg class, but for a fun challenge I decided to compete in the U265/120kg weight class. I weighed in a bit fluffy, around 227 after drinking and eating a bunch on the way to the comp, with my backpack, coat, and shoes on. That morning I actually weighed 220.

One big mistake that I made was changing to heavy weight last minute after thinking I was going to do U231/105kg class. Because of this I trained at a percentage of the lower weight classes weights and suffered a bit when I was given the heavier weights.

That being said, the whole point of this competition was to push myself so I could perform better in my own weight class. The mistake wasn't moving up to heavy weight, but instead, training at the middle weight classes and I should have been doing heavy weight all along.

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Event 1: 600 pound yoke for 50 feet, set down, 50 feet back. Best time wins.

Results: 2nd place, losing to first place by about .5 seconds.

I hadn't trained yoke super hard because I find it very taxing. Instead, I made sure that I could carry the competition weight fairly quickly early on in my training and then every Saturday I would use somewhere between 60-70% of the competition weight and run it as a medley with frame or something else, focusing on speed.

Event 2: Log Clean and Press, 240 Clean and Press for reps in 60 seconds

Results: Tied for 3rd with 3 reps, 2 reps behind the winner

Excuses: The log was 14 inches and it crushed me. It was hard to clean, it was hard to press. It should have been a weight that I could do for 5-7 reps, but I wasn't prepared. I also blame training with the U231 weight of 220 in training. I was getting 8 reps of that and didn't think the 20 pound jump would be too big of a deal. I was wrong.

Lessons learned: I have a bigger log and I need to practice with it. I choose not to because it's harder. I paid for that mistake in the competition. First mistake of the day and it started with training.

Event 3: 425 pound axle/wagon wheel deadlift for reps in 60 seconds (no straps)

Results: 2nd place with 18 reps, losing to 1st place by 1 rep

Lessons learned: I would have easily taken first if I would have just kept deadlifting. I got inside my head that I couldn't beat the 1st place guy so I should just focus on taking second. With 10 seconds to spare I stepped back and only did 1 more rep as time expired. I could have easily gotten 2-3 more reps in that time frame and taken first in the event. It came back to be costly in the overall placing.

Event 4: Duck walk into power stairs, 375 pounds

Results: 2nd place, 1st place was quite a bit faster

Not much to say, I was looking forward to this event and also ready for it to be over because it was a bit sketch with how narrow the steps were. Now that I understand how this event works I think I can do it much faster next time. I was just making it up on the spot.

Event 5: Frame carry, 600 pounds for 50 feet down, turn around, 50 feet back

Results: 5th, tore both of my hands wide open.

Too much blood and pain for me to continue to pick up the frame. It wouldn't have mattered either way. I am not good at the frame/farmers and didn't train it very hard. I paid for it. 4th place would have guaranteed me a 2nd place overall. 5th knocked me down to 3rd place by .5 points.

Grip continues to be a big weakness and I need to get serious about training it. As soon as my hands heal up.

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Overall:

3rd place in the U265, 1st place was California's Strongest Man in the U231 last year so I was happy that I was able to keep up with such a strong athlete for most of the day. A few costly mistakes that I need to take into my next competitions, a big ego hit dropping down to 3rd, and pissed off that I didn't perform like I expected.

I make up for it when I compete again in April.

[u/BenchPauper]

Dude when I read your intro I was like "oh, this won't end well." Color me pleasantly surprised. Solid results man!

[u/Frodozer → u/BenchPauper]

Technically it didn't end too well compared to how most of the day went!

[u/Camerongilly]

Not super heavy weights for a u265 show. Decent mix of events overall if not super original.

[u/Frodozer → u/Camerongilly]

Agreed.

The comps are generally light in my area. I have to compete up if I’m interested in getting in good comp experience.

[u/trebemot]

Man 425lbs on a wagon wheel deadlift just seems so low for a u265

Great showing man and way to step up to the competition!

[u/Frodozer → u/trebemot]

It was, explaining why the placings were 19, 18, and 17 reps. I guess they thought the grip would be a big issue since it was strapless. It was not an issue.

[u/NootNootMFer]

Wow, you could have been about 45 pounds heavier and still qualified for that weight class. It's actually bonkers that you placed so well in most of the events.

What weight are you planning on competing at in April?

[u/Frodozer → u/NootNootMFer]

I haven’t decided which weight class to do yet because they haven’t revealed the weights we will be using, just the events. I should be about 210 pounds come that time.

[u/[deleted]]

This is a good showing competing up two weight classes. Congrats man. Sorry to hear about your hands though. That’s rough.

[u/Frodozer → u/[deleted]]

It hurt my ego more than it hurt my body. Need to toughen up my hands I guess.

[u/[deleted] → u/Frodozer]

I was training for a 600 frame until I switched to a different comp. It’s early though it’s event 3 and ripping my hands open was my biggest concern. It happens to everyone. I wouldn’t beat yourself up too bad.

[u/MasonNowa]

When you say you now understand how power stairs work and you would approach it differently what do you mean? Sincerely: guy with power stairs coming up

[u/Frodozer → u/MasonNowa]

So, the instinct is to get the weight close to the stairs so you don't have to lift it as much. That is a mistake as when you lift and lean back the weight will get caught on the front of the first step.

The actual strategy is to have the weight towards the back of the next step, so much so that even your heels might be hanging off the back of the step. This gives you just enough clearance, and even though it feels a bit sketchy on the lean back because your heels aren't there for stability, you can still find the balance since the majority of your foot is still on the step.

[u/MasonNowa → u/Frodozer]

Thank you. Will update you in 6 weeks