TRAINING LOG: Ben Edwards

11-5-10, Friday

BRAEMAR

-1 warmup throw with the 10lb medicine ball.  Then 8 throws with my 16lb shot.  Finished up with 2 throws with my 38lb blob.  Finished around 3:30pm.

16LB SHOT

-22'3"-right hand, 15'-left hand

-21'8"-right hand , 15'8"-left hand

-22'4"-right hand, 16'4"-left hand

-24'-right hand, 17'4"-left hand

-23'9"-right hand, 17'8"-left hand

-24'9"-right hand, 17'1"-left hand

-24'4"-right hand, 16'4"-left hand

-23'9"-right hand, 15'9"-left hand

*Notes: Not a great workout but I did notice that it's been a full month since my last Braemar workout, so I'm a bit rusty it seems. 

38lb BLOB

-14'-right hand, 10'6"-left hand

-14'9"-right hand, 11'6"-left hand

*Notes: Only 1' shy of my righty PR.

BenEdwards wrote: 11-8-10, Monday HWFD -7 throws.  6 of those were with the standard style and only one was the modified style.  Looks like the modified style has already ran out of length for me.  I need more of a wind-up and the standard style gives me that.  Broke my previous PR twice in this workout!  Not massive increases, but one was 9" over my previous best. -17'8" -16'10" -15'3" -19'2"!...­beat my previous PR by 2" -16'9"...­modified style, felt very awkward today -15'6" -19'9"!...­focused on getting a longer, smoother pull and it paid off with a better throw.  20' is just around the corner. *Overall Notes: Want to give a big thank-you to Craig Smith for his help here on the NASGA forum!  I haven't sent him another video because I haven't managed to make my form "look" any different - but I can feel the difference when I focus on doing what he told me to do - even though it's not showing up on video yet.

You're definitely going over 20' soon Ben! I can't wait to get back outside throwing again. Pretty addictive stuff!

11-11-10, Thursday

Went to my friend's house to train in their big field.  It was raining during the entire workout but I didn't let that slow me down at all.  It at least gave me a reason to use my grip strength more than usual at least.  The PVC handle on my Light Hammer got pretty slick so it actually did require some pressure today.  Got big PRs on both events I trained.  Very happy with this workout.

LIGHT HAMMER

-11 throws.  Didn't measure most of them.  But the ones I did measure (these were the longer throws) were the 3rd (61'2"), the 9th (65'2"PR!), the 10th (64'), and the 11th (62'1"). 

*Notes: My competition PR is 62'7.5" so hitting 65'2" was a pretty nice PR.  This will equate to a few feet farther than that the next time I throw in competition.  Because the Light Hammer I have isn't quite as nice as the ones I've seen in the competitions.  I did change the setup of my LH and used 5lb plates instead of the 10lb plate (and the 5lb on that) so that made the diameter smaller and made for a more efficient swing.  Most of these throws were done with just enough rest to trot out into the field to retrieve the LH and then walk back with it and throw again.

LWFD

-14 throws!  That's more than what I had planned but I felt good so I just kept on throwing.  I would've gone past 20 throws if I hadn't ran out of time.  It's probably good that I stopped where I did because I'm pretty sore today.  Broke my PR 4 times today.  My competition PR is 37'.  My best throw today was 40'6" for a 3.5' PR!  The throws in order were: 36'8" - 36'5" - 38'1" (new PR by a foot) - 35'7" - 37'4" - 38'10" (new PR by 9") - 38'6" - 39'1" (new PR by 3") - 40'6"  (new PR by 1'5"!) - 37'8" (hook gripped) - 39' - 36'8" - 39'7" - 36'10".

*Notes: Fantastic LWFD workout!  Working with my 56lb WFD as much as I have lately is partly responsible and working on the tips that Craig Smith gave me is responsible for a large part of the rest of my sudden gains on this event.  I had 9 throws that were better than my competition PR.  And all were in slick grass, in the rain.  Used a beautiful silver ring handle on the first 7 throws and then the triangle handle that I got with the 56lb WFD from Thom Van Vleck.  I got better throws out of the triangle handle, but I love the feel and look of the ring handle.  Also tried a hook grip but didn't like the feel of it.  Instead, I just focused on trying to relax my grip on the handle to the bare minimum so that my arm wouldn't shorten.

I love it.  Nice work Ben!

11-21-10, Sunday

HWFD

-9 throws.  None were remarkable.  Only one went over 18' and the rest were very disappointing.  I felt very weak today, which might be due to getting over some cold symptoms.  Throws were: 14' - 14' -16'8" - 18'3" - 15'8" - 16'3" - 16'7" - 17'3" - 17'9". 

BRAEMAR 16LB SHOT

-6 throws righty, 4 lefty.  Best lefty was 19'7", which might be a PR.  Good workout righty and I got within 2' of my PR.  Throws were: 25' - 26' - 25'10" - 26'5" - 26'3" - 25'1".  This is the first workout where I've not thrown under 25' righty.  That's some progress.

Good read. Its fun to watch the steady increases lots of throwing and attention to technique brings. I personally would like to see you logging any strength training and conditioning you do, in addition to the throwing. Then the picture would be more complete.

Keep it going. You make me wish I started when I was 35.

12-1-10, Wednesday

BRAEMAR 16LB SHOT

-5 throws-both hands.  None were measured.  Did all of them with just enough rest to walk leisurely out to retrieve the shot and walk back to switch arms.

CDarby wrote: Good read. Its fun to watch the steady increases lots of throwing and attention to technique brings. I personally would like to see you logging any strength training and conditioning you do, in addition to the throwing. Then the picture would be more complete. Keep it going. You make me wish I started when I was 35.

Thanks!  I don't log my strength training only because I'm back to training (in general) for the USAWA comps and to be honest I don't think my weight training is going to have much carryover to the Highland Games now.  I stayed away from the grip and USAWA-geared training for 4 months though and I missed it.  So I'm back to training how I enjoy and I'm now okay with the reality that it probably won't enable me to improve any on the HG throws.  That's where my specific throws practice is going to have to do double duty.

Alan H wrote: I probably SHOULD do some left-hand throws!

Wish I could say that it's fun to throw with my non-dominant hand, but it's not especially.

Srokus wrote: BenEdwards wrote: CDarby wrote: Good read. Its fun to watch the steady increases lots of throwing and attention to technique brings. I personally would like to see you logging any strength training and conditioning you do, in addition to the throwing. Then the picture would be more complete. Keep it going. You make me wish I started when I was 35. Thanks!  I don't log my strength training only because I'm back to training (in general) for the USAWA comps and to be honest I don't think my weight training is going to have much carryover to the Highland Games now.  I stayed away from the grip and USAWA-geared training for 4 months though and I missed it.  So I'm back to training how I enjoy and I'm now okay with the reality that it probably won't enable me to improve any on the HG throws.  That's where my specific throws practice is going to have to do double duty. Ben you doing the national one at Jackson Weightlifting Club? I am planning on being there and have been throwing the lifts in my training. This will be my first time trying this stuff and I am excited. Not training hard for it just for fun and seeing what I can do.

Yes, I'll be there for sure Tom!  Look forward to meeting you there.  The lifts don't especially suit me - I'm still a grip guy at heart - but I want to support the USAWA and I thorougly enjoy Thom Van Vleck and his training area is great.

I've actually been doing some Braemar "playing" vs. training the past few weeks.  Very casual.  Just in my yard.  But I am feeling the pull of wanting to do some real training again.  Daughter is 13 months old and I have slightly more time to do stuff again. 

Come on and get you some! Welcome back.

I've been doing Braemar throws with my 15lb stone and a 28lb "glob" that I made by duct taping some small-ish weight plates together and micro-loading more weight in the form of odds and ends tucked inside the structure (I took pics of the building process, it's nothing earth shattering) to add weight until it was exactly 28lbs.  It's actually very solid.  Because I used an entire roll of duct tape on it.

"It's actually very solid.  Because I used an entire roll of duct tape on it."