Hello guys.. My name is Ross Love. I train at The Warehouse Gym in League City, Texas (with Andy Vincent and Trey Kerth). I have been half ass training Strongman for the past 3 years and just recently got into doing Grip Competitions Mid January of this year. I have decided to put Strongman on the back burner for a while and try this whole Throwing Thing. I like that it doesnt make me feel like ive been hit by a truck the next day!! Its also pretty fun.

Planning to do my FIRST Highland Game Competition in August.. pretty stoked about it!

Currently 6'4 and about 305lbs. Trying to drop down in the 275 - 280 range. Hopefully it will make me a little more graceful lol. If there is one thing I am not.. its light on my feet.

So here are the last couple days of my training.. I would love any advice or criticism I can possibly get. Im mostly training solo.. so im sure ill have plenty of questions for you guys.

6/10/11

HWFD
5 Throws with 1 spin all around 28 - 30'
5 Throws with 2 spins 30' - 32'... Its going to take a while to get used to the HW. Its a beast.

LWFD
5 Throws with 2 spins 58' - 62'.. I got into one really good and it was 65'+ but not sure how far past 65' it was.

16lb Shot
5 Standing, all around 39 - 42'
5 With a Spin was able to get around 44 - 46'... very happy with this. First time I have ever tried spinning with it and it didnt feel horrible

6/13/11

Went in for some MUCH needed upper body work.

Standing Overhead Press
135 x 10
185 x 5
225 x 5
275 x 3
275 x 1
315 x 1
335 x 1
355 x 1 - Was happy that I hit it but it was real shakey so I stopped. I have been doing tons of Seated OHP lately.. I felt strong on the press but little leg drive. Hopefully 355 will be more like 375 in the next 4 - 6 weeks.

Incline Dumbell Bench Press - Did these real light.. just to get some blood flow to this area.
50lb x 12 x 4

Tricep pushdowns and lateral dumbell raises.. super setted.

Over Head tricep extensions.

I saw a couple threads about 2" VBAR so I decided to go in and give it a try... only time I have ever tried it was in a Medley at Metroflex Gym earlier this year.
Worked up to 270 x 1 each arm and then 296 x 1 each arm. Will see how much I can progress at this in the coming weeks.

3" Custom Dumbell.. Only bummer is that it will really only hold 155lbs. I was able to do this with my left hand.. right hand just did not have it today. Tough lift, but I plan to practice this for a while too.

45lb Plate Pinches... x 10 lol I dont know I did a lot.

So I stacked (4) 45lb Plates together and BAAAAAARELY got it moving, BUT I did get it moving.. very tough for me. A couple more times and I think ill be able to pinch that with both hands.


All in all.. good day. Glad I went.. I almost went and drank beer instead.

6/14/11

LW Hammer - this was my 2nd time doing this.. Im definitely using ALL Arms. I need someone to critique my form. Looking forward to working with Andy when he gets back in town.

Took about 10 - 12 throws, hit a couple around 95' with one spin.

HWFD - I have done this a few times and my god I dont think I have ever felt this bad doing it. Thinking about it now... im sure last nights grip workout did not help.

Took 7 throws with 1 spin and only 1 went past 30'.. usually im able to be in the 32 - 34' range.

Couch to 5k.. Im in week 2. Was able to distance about 1.75 miles in 20 min with the 90 sec intervals and 120 sec walks.

Thanks Craig.. I appreciate it.

6/15/11

Foam Rolled my back out... throwing so much the past 1.5 weeks has definitely taken a toll on the back. Decided not to do any weights today.

Couch to 5k, Week 2, Day 2, complete.

6/16/11

Glad I took yesterday off... today was a SWEET day with the Shot. I am not sure if I have been doing this long enough to even call anything a PR.. but today was a personal best.

Worked out with Big Trey Kerth and Avg'ed 45' with my standing shot.. Personal Best on the day was 47 1/2'. It was nice having someone mark your throw instead of just guessing.

Followed by:

GHR's - slowly increasing my weight since hurting my back. 180lbs x 3 sets of 10 reps.

Step Ups - Knee was above Hip.. 85lbs x 3 sets of 15 reps per leg.

Stiff Legged DL's with Dumbells - 100lbs x 3 sets of 10 reps.

Talked Big Boy Trey into do my Couch to 5k and we hit the track for Week 2, Day 3. Nice sweat.. seemed to only be about 107 degrees outside today lol.

6/17/11

Went to do some LW Hammer... hit a Personal Best of 100' with one spin. Exciting! Only my 3rd time throwing this implement.

Went against my better judgement and threw LWFD... my elbow has been bothering me and it REALLY bothered me today.. Took 3 throws and called it a day on this. Gonna take the whole weekend off and come back monday and see how the bow feels.

Power Cleans: 190 x 3, 265 x 3, 309 x 2, 309 x 1.. Havent done these in a couple years lol.. felt ok.

Hanging Snatches 155 x 3 x 3...

I have a Question for some of you more experienced throwers... What was your throwing frequency when you just started out? I have been trying to throw something 3 days a week.. starting to think that is to much for my elbow right now. Going to drop it down to Monday and Thursday and see how that feels.. Any suggestions?

Thanks!

You're OHP strength is sick and I'm jealous of your shot. First time I ever touched a shot I threw it 32', lol..

Sometimes I throw twice a week, sometimes I throw 3 times.. just depends on how I'm feeling really. You need to judge your recovery. If you're feeling super beat up, then skip it and foam roll/stretch instead.

jsully wrote: You're OHP strength is sick and I'm jealous of your shot. First time I ever touched a shot I threw it 32', lol.. Sometimes I throw twice a week, sometimes I throw 3 times.. just depends on how I'm feeling really. You need to judge your recovery. If you're feeling super beat up, then skip it and foam roll/stretch instead.

Pretty much what I assumed.. I appreciate your response.

I may just switch to training it every 3rd day rather than 2 set days a week... Being so new to this and very excited I definitely dont wanna over train.

Took all of Saturday and Sunday off... drank way to much beer but even still it was good rest!

6/20/11 - Cant believe this month has flown by this fast.

Had a throwing buddy today.. Trey made it over to throw with me.

Started off with LW Hammer.. our warm ups werent even over and the PVC broke. So instead of stopping to fix it we decided to do the HW Hammer which I have never tried before (fix the LW when we are done).

Took some Warm ups and then 5 throws with one spin.. Its amazing after just throwing the hammer a few times how much more coordinated I feel.. I got into some pretty good ones with the HW hammer.. best throw of the day was 84'.. I actually think this will end up being a good event for me as I progress with it.

HWFD - Trey was able to point out a few things I was doing wrong and it made a huge difference. Took 5 throws with one spin and then 5 throws with 2 spins.. Hit just over 35' on my last throw and decided that was good for the day.

Lastly we threw some "open stone" with the shot put lol. Wanted to practice one spin facing the trig as opposed to 2 spins facing away from the trig... This is all so new to me I am kinda teaching myself as we go. I looked up some of the pros on Youtube and just trying to mimick some of what I saw... Today was a good day! After I got more comfortable with it I was able to hit 2 throws OVER 50'! Very happy with that...  So I look back and I basically have added over 10' to my shot in 2 weeks just by getting used to better technique. If only these gains would continue lol.

That is all.

Thanks Craig... ya the last time I threw anything was 7th grade Track and Field lol. So basically this is all new.

Youtube IS a HUGE tool... I did the same thing with Strongman back in 2008... I learned the biomechanics by watching guys on Youtube then trying to simulate that in training. It definitely is a big help.

Actually its the back side of the elbow where the tricep would attach.. and even a little bit to the inside of the elbow. Today felt a lot better and actually I did just that.. Neoprene sleeve and icy hot. It really didnt bother me until I got halfway through the Shot. I plan to just start throwing Shot 1 day a week.. the only reason I really did it today was because I was excited to try that spin. Besides I need to be focusing more on my WFD and Hammer anyways.

Im guessing its just gonna take me a little time to figure out what works and what doesnt.. just like anything else.

Thats what im thinking man.. Just gonna take some time for the elbow to catch up. Today I have no pain.. its literally only when im doing the throw itself.

Im looking forward to doing my first Games.. Andy said August 6th in Huntsville... so thats where I plan to be.

Cheers.

Pretty much a worthless day today...

Grip Workout:

Rolling Thunder - Worked up to 247lbs

Anvil Trainer - Worked up to 150lbs

Pinch - completely worthless I think it was 147 degrees today and 200% humidity.. the chalk was turning to paste.

Upper body work.. 

Flat Bench - 185lbs x 4 sets x 10 reps

Incline Dumbell Press - 55lbs  x 10 reps x 4 sets

Tricep Pushdowns - 70lbs x 10 reps x 4 sets

Im simply going to have to figure out a better training split than my current routine... Throwing is exhausting my hands/grip and my grip workouts have been sub par to put it nicely...

6/22/11

Stretch and Foam Roll.. stiff as a board.

6/23/11

Should have just foam rolled and stretched again lol.. felt weak, tired and pretty much useless.

HWFD - barely broke 30'.. the damn thing was throwing me today.

LWFD - First throw was about 65' then all down hill from there. Almost broke my ankle on the trig.

LWH - Somewhere around 90'

Feeling pretty beat up and tired.. gonna take a couple days off.. get back to some weight training next week and throw at the end of next week. As excited as I have been to do this stuff lately it has probably overtrained me a bit. I have been neglecting my running and weights.. so I need to refocus on that.

Threw with Andy today.. got some pointers that should help me moving forward. A couple of fundamental things I need to work on.

Shot - 6 Standing all around 45' or so.. Then we moved around a little and my best throw of the day with I believe, Andy said I was doing a "modified south african" spin.. I was able to put one out a little over 50'

HWFD - Still feels miserable.. So many things im probably doing wrong on this one. Everything was in the 30 - 32' range.

Light Hammer - I doubt I hit anything over 95' today.. my best throws were 90+. Im definitely not keeping my arms extended.. I am absolutely hand cuffing myself and trying to muscle the weight.

Going to spend the next 3 days getting some gym lifts in.. have been neglecting those. Also getting back to my running and continuing to focus on dropping some more weight.

DOH Axle Deadlifts - 381 x 1, 429 x 1, 450 x 0 ... chalk was working against me at this point. To damn hot.

Pinch Work - Worked up to 207lbs on two hand pinch.

Power Cleans up to 310lbs for singles.

Hang Cleans for 30 seconds with 160lbs... 2 sets of 19 and 20 reps.

50' Prowler Sprints x 10 ... alternating with workout partner on each 50 foot run.

Glad to get back to some Grip Training and Conditioning.

Had 45 min this morning to bust out a workout and then get to the pool for really important things like Steak and Beer.

20 Min High Intensity Cardio on the Treadmill..

Loaded the Bar up to a MASSIVE 135lbs and did the following..

8 Stiff Legged Dead Lifts, 8 OHP's, 8 Squats.. Rested 60 seconds and Repeated 6 Times. This actually sucked on the 5th and 6th Set. Heart Rate was up the whole time... Abs look sweet.

More of the same.. wanted to really take it easy this past week. Trying to let a few aches and pains heal up.

20 min Cardio

Seated Rows, Lat Pull Downs x 5 sets

Bicep Curls and Tricep Pushdowns x 5 sets

Another short workout... immediately left the gym for beer and BBQ.