sandbags

HEAVY METAL - Team Strongman Competition

DATE: 
January 30 2015

TIME: 
6:30pm

PLACE:
Travis County Strength 
5501 N. Lamar Blvd #113 
ATX 78751

TEAMS:
6 teams of 2 males -- REGISTER HERE
6 teams of 2 females -- REGISTER HERE
*Only 1 Person from each team needs to register*

PRICE:
$50 per Team

NEED TO KNOW:
Each member of the team should be familiar with the following equipment: YOKES, ATLAS STONES, LOGS, FARMERS CARRIES, KEGS, SANDBAGS, TIRES, AND SLEDS. 

Workouts will be released at noon the day of the competition.

Be Ready! 

F*CK YOUR FANCY GYM

Does the shiny equipment with names you can't pronounce make you stronger? Maybe. However, chances are that you probably don't even know how to sit in it properly, let alone effectively use the equipment. And let's rewind just a bit...there's a major problem -- YOU'RE SITTING DOWN!

Last time I checked, working out required some work to be done. The overwhelming number of pulleys and cables, ergonomic design, or comfortable padding don't make whatever thingamajig more effective at building strength. 

In fact, it's my contention that the more simplistic a piece of equipment is, the more valuable it can be when building a stronger, tougher, fitter human.

A perfect example is the sandbag. Yes, you read that correctly. Look, If you asked me what one piece of equipment you should get so that you could start training today....the sandbag would be the golden ticket.

Let's just look at the benefits of building and training with a sandbag:

  • Sand is cheap
  • Duffle bags are cheap
  • Trash bags and duct tape are cheap
  • You can drop sandbags on most surfaces.
  • If any part of the bag breaks, it's easy to fix....and you guessed it....it's cheap.
  • You can create an appropriate weight based on your fitness level and/or exercise you're doing.
  •  It's easy (and cheap) to have several on hand for a multitude of uses. Think light, moderate and heavy.
  • I am confident that with a little imagination, you can find a way to use a sandbag to mimic any exercise you can think of.
  • Sandbags are odd objects....this is a good thing...trust me.
  • Sandbags soak up your sweat and start to smell. This, too, is a good thing. It forces you to deal with something that's not convenient, sexy or easy....It develops toughness -- both physical and mental.
  • It closely replicates the tasks that life throws at you. When shit hits the fan, it doesn't come in nice, neat, easy to move packages that smell like roses. Remember that and train for it. 

I could easily keep rolling on this list, but I think this should do the trick. You get the idea by now, right?

Yes, the sandbag is incredibly simple. But in that simplicity you'll find an incredible training tool that offers unlimited versatility and, if used wisely, a potent training stimulus that will have you dropping your globo-gym membership like it's hot. 

Friday Night SWOD - Recap

By now you've probably seen some picture, post, or tweet from last Friday evening's event at TCS, the Friday Night SWOD. I'll be honest in saying that this was one of our smaller FNS events - my theory is that holding this on the same night as the ACL opener is not the best plan of action, but what the hell. We had a blast with a bunch of great people! And really, that's why we do this.

So, with that being said, the competition was a huge success!

We had athletes from Houston, San Marcos, Seguin, Cedar Park and of course Austin. All of these competitors took on the 3 workouts of the evening:

1. "Draggin' Ass"
2. "Load'n'Go"
3. "The To-Do List"

It was clear that everyone thought that the first workout was the nastiest of them all.....which is exactly what we planned on. Competitors tore into this workout with a blistering pace that soon slowed to a "Get this shit over with" grind. Once each heat ended with several athletes taking a couple moments to collect themselves before attempting to stand and walk off the workout floor. Perfect!

The second workout slowed things down a bit.....at least temporarily while each athlete had 6min to establish his/her 2-Rep Max Front Squat before going immediately to a nasty little sandbag/stepup complex that only lasted for 90sec, but surely felt like a lifetime. 

We saw some massive lifts, and I would say that the majority of the athletes managed to PR their old 1-Rep Max and take it for a second rep! 

One moment that was captured by our video crew pretty much says it all. This is Carlos.

Carlos is the owner of CrossFit Houston and came up for his first FNS. He's probably glad he did, as he set a new PR on his Front Squat and ended up taking 3rd place overall.

On the final workout of the night we kept it super simple. But as you've heard on this very blog:

"Simple does NOT mean easy."

Athletes had to complete a ridiculously heavy set of single-arm DB presses, then go right to a short set of Burpees, only to then be forced to move a heavy-ass sandbag while performing Sandbag Getups. Miserable.

Nevertheless, these athletes powered through and came out the other side feeling beat-down and broken, but had fun all the while. Some athletes even got to perform some exercises and use some tools that they had never used before, like the stone and sandbag. 

At the end of the night, we gathered around and announced the top 3 males and 3 females in the Rx'd division, as well as the top female from the Scaled division.

Rx'd Males:

  1. Elliot E.
  2. Joshua K.
  3. Carlos I.
  4. Layke F.
  5. Jason W.
  6. Nathan F.
  7. Anthony B.
  8. Russ L.
  9. Elliot S.
  10. Michael S.
  11. Gabe K.

Rx'd Females:

  1. Taylor M.
  2. Cat C./Amanda H.
  3. Michelle H.
  4. Allison W.
  5. Carrey B.
  6. Lindsay S.
  7. Nicole A.
  8. Marianna M.
  9. Shannon
  10. Evelyn
  11. Laurie G.

Scaled Females:

  1. Shelley S.
  2. Katrina T.
  3. Ashley B.
  4. George

All of the competitors did an outstanding job throughout the entire night. But, as is the case with any competition, the FNS would not have even happened if it weren't for the judges and volunteers. 

These ladies and gents spent the entire time counting reps and maintaining a high standard of movement, as well as making big changes to the layout of the workout floor for each of the 3 workouts. Again, without these individuals the night would have gone completely different and no one would have had the quality experience they did. So a big Thank You goes out to those that made the evening possible!

In closing, I would just like to say that you can stay up to date with the events that Travis County Strength has going on at any given time by checking the EVENTS tab on the website. This is where we will post future Friday Night SWOD's and much more! You can also stay in touch with TCS goings on right here on the blog! 

Until next time!

Friday Night SWOD - The Workouts

I'm sure the competitors have been eagerly awaiting this post, so I won't waste any unnecessary time getting to the details of tonight's event. However, I do need to remind y'all of the evening's timeline that can be found HERE. Please be sure to plan on shittier-than-normal traffic due to ACL.

Keep in mind that the information we have released covers the basics. You will need to be here on time to get the full briefing of all 3 workouts and their details. Don't miss this!

Lastly, if after seeing these 3 workouts you absolutely know which division (Rx'd or Scaled) you will compete in, contact Jen as soon as possible with this information. 

jen@traviscountystrength.com

ENJOY!


WORKOUT 1 - "Draggin' Ass" (6min Cap)

3x AFAP: 

  • Weighted Tire Drag
  • Bear Crawl (Forward)
  • 2R/2L Stone Shoulders
  • Bear Crawl (Reverse)
     
  • Rx'd Male: 
    • Tire Drag -- Rd. 1 @ 90 | Rd. 2 @ 100 | Rd. 3 @ 110
    • Stone @ 115 
  • Scaled Male: 
    • Tire Drag -- Rd. 1 @ 70 | Rd. 2 @ 80 | Rd. 3 @ 90
    • Stone @ 95
  • Rx'd Female: 
    • Tire Drag -- Rd. 1 @ 70 | Rd. 2 @ 80 | Rd. 3 @ 90
    • Stone @ 75
  • Scaled Female:
    • Tire Drag -- Rd. 1 @ 45 | Rd. 2 @ 55 | Rd. 3 @ 65
    • Stone @ 45

WORKOUT 2 - "Load'n'Go" (7.5min Cap)

  • 6min to Find: 
    • 2-Rep Max Front Squat

-IMMEDIATELY INTO-

  • 90sec AMRAP:
    • Sandbag Shoulder-to-StepUp
  • Rx'd Male:
    • Sandbag @ 90
    • Box @ 20"
  • Scaled Male:
    • Sandbag @ 60
    • Box @ 20"
  • Rx'd Female:
    • Sandbag @ 60
    • Box @ 16"
  • Scaled Female:
    • Sandbag @ 50
    • Box @ 16"

WORKOUT 3 - "The To-Do List"       (6min Cap)

COMPLETE AFAP:

  • 30 Single-Arm Dumbbell Shoulder-to-Overhead (15R/15L)
  • 20 Burpees
  • 10 Sandbag Getups (5R/5L)
     
  • Rx'd Male:
    • Sandbag @ 90
    • DB @ 75
  • Scaled Male:
    • Sandbag @ 60
    • DB @ 55
  • Rx'd Female:
    • Sandbag @ 60
    • DB @ 45
  • Scaled Female:
    • Sandbag @ 50
    • DB @ 30