2nd Annual Strength in the Valley Strongman Competition

I competed in the Second Annual Strength in the Valley strongman contest today. It was part of the Canada Day celebration at Dundas Driving Park in Dundas, Ontario. I only did it because I wanted to do the deadlift event contained within it. I do that sometimes. Compete in contests just for the sake of one event that sounds like fun. At the time I agreed to it, it sounded like there would be a series of heavier and heavier barbells and whomever made it to the heaviest bar would win the event. They changed that later on but it was still good.

First event was the aforementioned Deadlift Medley.

We were allowed to use straps on all but the axle bar. I wore mine just in case but didn't end up needing them. This event was way easier than I thought it was going to be. Everything felt super light. I came second in this event and the guy who won it beat me by only half a second. I feel like I hesitated after dropping that first bar, as if I was waiting for a command to move on to the next one. That was probably what cost me the half second difference. I've done individual sets during workouts that were harder than this event but it was fun nonetheless.

Lifting this bar with my psychokinetic psionic wild talent.

I might have called it The Force, but... I'm not a geek.

 

This is the one I thought I might have trouble with. I didn't though.

 

Couldn't have been easier. I think I might actually prefer axles to Olympic bars at this point.

 

The hardest part of this lift was worrying that I might drop them on my feet so I threw them out sideways. Those handles were thicker than I'm used to on farmers but the lift came up pretty easily so I've got nothing to complain about.

The next event was a combination of a hand-over-hand pull and then push with a pickup truck.

 I came first in this event and had no trouble with it whatsoever. I took some skin off my elbow at some point with the rope but what are you going to do? It's an extreme sport after all.

Look at those calves, son! FUCK YEAH!

 

After that it was decided that we were running ahead of schedule so they added an extra event. An Axle Press for Reps.

 

 

I felt totally unprepared for this. I didn't even do any overhead work leading into this contest (despite my knowing after the last contest that it specifically needs work) and my best single at home here is still only about 175. So I was expecting one or two reps at best. My wife told me to stop being such a pussy and aim for at least 10. As it turns out, something made this bar feel extremely light today. I have a feeling it was the bumper plates. My own 2" axle bar is built to hold standard plates, so the handle is two inches thick but the ends, where the weights slide on, are only about one inch thick. This all makes for an extremely awkward bar to work with.

 

I've got it set up on my squat rack here. Useless for any form of squat other than Zerchers.

 

I came in dead last on this event but I will say that I had to go first here and was at a disadvantage to begin with. Had I gone later in the rotation I'm sure I would have gotten more reps. Bumper plates make everything feel so light I'm actually kind of thankful that I rarely get anywhere near them.

 

The final event of the day was a stone lift for reps.

We had a minute and a half to get a 180 lb stone over a 53" bar as many times as we could. The stone itself I didn't find all that difficult but fuck that bar was way too damn high. I had trouble getting it over a few times. This event was a lot of fun though. I can't remember how many reps I got but I took second here and the guy who beat me only got one more rep than I did. I've always liked stone lifting.

In the end I was lucky enough to walk away with second place overall in the Men's Under 220 lb division. I still weigh right around 176 or 177 depending on the day and the scale being used.

 Second Prize was a jar of whey protein powder. I never buy the stuff but what the Hell. Maybe I'll go up to 185 by next month and take pisses that glow in the dark.

Standard post-competition group photo with no one at all paying attention to the camera.

 

I suppose if I'm being perfectly honest, this one is the much better group shot. It just happens that I'm one of those rare individuals who actually gets uglier when he smiles. Oh well. At least it doesn't look like everybody is trying to figure out who just farted.

 

It wasn't that long ago that I was going back and forth in my mind as to whether or not I would even continue competing in strongman contests. I'm glad I decided to keep up with it though. I'm doing fairly well at it so far and if I stopped now I know I would regret it later.

 

And by the way, Happy Canada Day!