Rise Above Strongman Competition

100 lb. Keg Press

I may not have been writing recently but I sure have been training.

And about a month ago I went to my friend Doug’s gym Rise Above Performance Training.

I was a trainer for Doug when he went through the RKC and we stayed in touch after that. He was holding an anniversary party and strongman competition and asked me to come down.

By the way, if you live near Belmont, California you should go check it out. More info can be found at www.RiseAboveStrength.com.

Right when I arrived, the strongman competition was just getting started. I jumped in no hesitation. Here’s a summary with some lessons learned at the end. Also I hope you enjoy the pictures and videos.

The first event was a keg press. Even with all my training this was actually the first time I ever pressed a keg. At 100 lbs. this one proved difficult. I managed 3 reps, knowing with a little practice I could at least double that number.

The second event was the tire flip. It was a light tire so it was done for max reps in 2 minutes. This one I excelled and taking first place by a single rep.

Rolling Thunder

The third event was weighted pushups. Throwing chains over the body then doing reps between two concrete blocks. This was my worst event of the bunch.

The fourth event was the Rolling Thunder. If you are unfamiliar with this one it’s a grip tool put out by Iron Mind. The thick bar and rotating handle makes it difficult to grip. We kept adding weight to see who could lift the most.

The last event was a medley. Pushing a sled, carrying a 70 lb. keg overhead, doing a farmer’s walk with 120 lb. dumbbells and pulling a rope with a weighted sled on it. All this was done for time.

Overall I placed third or forth out of out of the seven. Not bad when you consider most of the competitors where bigger and more muscular then me. And the fact that they trained there and most of these events were familiar to them.

Would have loved to go there and dominate but the primary concern was just to have some fun. Its great to get to use your training that you work so hard to build every once in a while. And competition is always fun.

And afterwords I did a few of the things I’m known for. Kettlebell juggling, tearing phonebooks, cards, bending nails and even a horseshoe.

Speaking of kettlebell juggling tonight Scott Bird from Straight to the Bar is holding a twitter chat on the subject. To come join the conversation go here for details.

This video will show a couple clips from everything that went on there.

Phonebook Tear

Another good reason to compete or do something like this is it shows you how you’re doing. Even though I had never pressed a keg before I got to see how my training has prepared me to do that. I got to see how my conditioning would hold up in unfamiliar exercises like the tire flip and medley.

And it would point out weaknesses, like my horizontal pushing strength, which I am now adding back into my training. Everything for some time has all been overhead pressing. Not anymore.

So go and compete. Take a different training class once in awhile. Try using a new training implement. This is your call to action. Get out and do it!

And if you enjoyed this post please comment below.

In strength,
Logan Christopher

P.S. There’s a big announcement coming tomorrow so watch your email inbox for that.