So that’s it – my final week of training is complete and this time next week I’ll have taken part in my first ever strongwoman competition. Frustratingly this week’s training has been plagued by niggles – my back and my knee haven’t been happy which has limited what I’ve been able to do. It’s bad timing but there’s little I can do but follow the advice I’ve been given and hope that both will settle down before the day.
Monday 4th April – PT session.
This was my 4th day of strength training on the trot – not what I usually do at all but it’s just worked out that way. Tonight was an entire session of log press working a lot on the dip before it goes overhead. I finished the session after about 40 mins of pressing with a new 52.5kg PB. 
The comp weight is 55kg so on the day I think I’ll be fine – I tried it tonight and failed 3 times but I was tired by the end of the session.
Tuesday 5th April – rest day
And a trip to my osteopath – he clicked my spine back into place and treated my knee a little bit to try and reduce some of the swelling. He thinks my knee issues could stem from flat feet and the pressure being placed on my knees because of that and the very heavy weights I’m lifting.
He took a picture of my feet which shows what he means – my right foot is really quite flat to the floor (apologies to the foot squeamish but it was a bit of a light-bulb moment for me so I thought I’d share)
A few years ago he gave me orthotics to wear when I was running so he’s advised me to dig these out and start wearing them again, especially when I’m lifting heavy weights.
Wednesday – rest day
My knee was very sore after the treatment so I rested again.
Thursday – Julia Buckley session
The latest in the core focused Six Pack Shred series – short and sharp session which is perfect for a morning before work.
Friday – gym session
Got to admit that my head wasn’t in the game this morning. I was worried about my knee that wasn’t really feeling much better and it held me back while I was rack pulling. I got up to 110kg and then switched to some shoulder assistance work. Now that it’s so close to the competition I don’t want to take any risks and make my knee worse before the day. While that’s obviously a sensible approach it’s also quite frustrating.
Saturday – strongwoman training session
My final strongwoman session before the competition. I decided to play it safe and stay away from the very heavy loading. So no yoke for me today. Instead I started off by playing around with the sandbags. Having picked up a 40kg one last weekend at the Commando Temple I was struck but how much heavier the 50kg one felt and asked James, the coach, if he’d ever weighed them. After a bit of heaving and manhandling the bags onto the scales the true weight of the sandbags was revealed. The ’50kg’ one is actually 60kg and the ’70kg’ one actually weighs 86kg – no wonder no-one can get it off the floor!! I think it’s fair to say that I’m feeling more confident about the sandbags now!
I then moved onto log press – kept the weights low and went for reps instead.
I finished up with some axle presses – something else I’ve not practiced that often. I was really pleased to realise that I’m able to clean the bar straight from the floor to my shoulders with my competition weight – I’ve not been able to do that before and have had to do what’s called a continental clean which is a two part move. Cleaning the bar straight from the floor is a lot more efficient so I ended the session on a bit of a high realising that I can do that.
Sunday 10th April – mobility and stretching
My knee had siezed up a bit this morning but was overall less painful so I warmed up with 20 very easy minutes on the bike taking care not to put much pressure through the knee. I followed that up with mobility work using the TRX and a medicine ball. Finally some stretching.
I’ve got a PT session on Tuesday where we’re going to run through the events for my competition and then that’s the training done. Nothing more to do now than mobility work, stretching, sleeping and eating. This time next week the competition will be over and I’ll officially be a novice strongwoman competitor!
From Strength to Strength 