Unleash the Monkey Army

Having had to break my run of trips to Westbury for Ironworx Strongman, I had Nailsworth Strength and Fitness' Autumn Strongest in sight. The problems were multiple but the two most prominent were that it was going to involve multiples of bodyweight for many of the rounds and it also involved a bench press. If you watched the Olympics you may have noticed the trend across the weight categories in weighlifting. As the bodyweight increases, generally you see an upward shift in absolute strength, that is to say the weight on the bar. But there comes a point after which that weight represents smaller multiples of bodyweight. And there's the rub with this format. It is demanding but it is accessible to a broader spectrum of lifters than a comp with just an absolute weight in it. But it it means the big boys are going to have to shift some big weights for reps which start to feel like a cardio workout. But what's my beef with the bench? For your average gym monkey a bench press...

126 days down 18 weeks have passed. 8260 burpees performed (thanks in part to an inclination to round up) Over the last couple of weeks this post has started and drifted away again in my head, several times. Not altogether unlike my love affair with burpees over the same time really! At one point this piece was going to be titled "Because...". I decided against that, partly because I doubt anybody really wants to read me wrestling with angst (again) and partly because "because" is the answer to the question "why?". I know and accept that disappointment takes preparation. For newcomers to the concept, let me explain. In order to be disappointed about something you need two conditions: first, an idea or an image however vague and cloudy, of how you thought it would be. Second, what you are actually facing to be different to that expectation.  Often we have the bitter taste of disappointment in our mouth without ever having been conscious of what we were expe...