Training Day - June 30 - Monday

Speed Squats @ 272 lbs. + Average Jump Stretch bands.
15 sets of 2 reps done on the minute down to a 12" box

The squats felt very good today and this is promising because when I'm squatting well, the rest of me is also usually very strong.

160 lbs. atlas stone to 36" box 3 sets of 5
Turkish Get-Up @ 16kg 3 x 3

12 minute (EDT period)
2-arm swing @ 40kg x sets of 5
Box pistol @ 11" box x sets of 3
9 total sets each

Single Leg Deadlift
5 x 32kg
5 x 40
5 x 48
5 x 64
5 x 80

Seated Calf Raise
15 x 70 lbs.
12 x 115
10 x 140
8 x 185

As you can see, a bit of a change up from weeks past. I have 2 weeks before a 1 week taper prior to my competition July 19. I will be training Lower Body on Monday and Thursday, Upper Body on Tuesday and Friday. I will have a main focus and then adding in extra assistance exercises and volume. For the 1 week taper, I will keep the intensity up for the major lifts and cut out all assistance exercises. I will also rest completely the 3 days prior to the comp.

For those wondering, the 2-arm swings were done 'hard-style'. That style swing is most conducive to what I need in training right now for strongman and the short intense bursts of power that it requires.

Training Day - June 28 - Saturday

It was a rough day on saturday, but weight was lifted and that is a positive. We went out for a friday night on the town in celebration of my former roommates new job and home purchase. Beer is not a performance enhancing substance.

Axle Clean + Press
5 x 45kg
3 x 65
1 x 85
1 x 95
1 x 105

Its the most weight i've C+J on the axle recently so I was pleasantly surprised.

Axle Deadlift
3 sets of 10 reps @ 155kg

I will need a good showing in the axle deadlift for reps in the comp. on July 19. 155kg felt nice and easy and will be doing more deadlift training this week.

550lbs. tire flip for 25yds x 2

Tire pulls, I chain up my 550 tire and pull it like a truck pull. I tried doubling up and pulling 2 tires stacked on top of each other but the friction on the black top was too great for me on this day. I will try again.

Training Day - June 26 - Thursday

Barbell Clean + Jerk
3 x 50 kg
3 x 70
3 x 90
3 x 100
3 x 105

Back Squat
5 x 70 kg
5 x 120
5 x 150
5 x 160
5 x 165

Squats really felt good today. It took a couple of weeks to get back into squat mode but I look for good things to come in the next couple of weeks now that my body is starting to acclimate again.

Incline Log Press @ level 3 on incline
8 x 120 lbs.
5 x 170
5 x 186
5 x 208
5 x 219

Level 3 on my incline bench is quite steep. I usually bench on level 2, but since I don't know the incline angle we'll be using at the strongman comp. its best to prepare for any and all.

Thick handle DB Row - 2"
5 x 70 lbs.
5 x 90
5 x 110
5 x 130
5 x 150

The 2" handle is SOOO much easier than the 2.5". I feel I have more on the 2", whereas the 2.5" shuts me down at about 140lbs.

Friday is a stretching day and will be doing strongman events with some conventional lifting again on Saturday.

Training Day - June 24 - Tuesday

Well I'm starting to recover from travel. Still trying to figure out which time zone i'm in today. I needed a little motivation to train so I put out the word for some strongman training at 7pm.

3 of us showed up and this is how it went.

200lbs. sandbag carry 25yds down and back. Then backwards drag a 550lbs. tire 25yds.

Next we did a Press Medley; 28kg KB, 75lbs. sandbag, 100lbs sandbag, 120lbs. log bar, 150lbs. sandbag, 160lbs. water keg, 185lbs. thick db (almost had it locked out on my right arm)

Carry Medley; move all the above mentioned stuff plus a 200lbs. sandbag from one pile to another pile 12yds. away. FUN!!!

Truck pull: Ford F-150 double cab, 3 x 40yds, times all under 30sec.

10lbs. Sledgehammer chops on tire, 40 sec. hitting / 20 sec. rest. One round on each side

Training Day - June 20 - Friday

Axle Clean + Jerk
3 x 55kg
3 x 75
2 x 85
2 x 95
2 x 105

Squats w/ Average JumpStretch Bands
15 sets of 2 with 250 lbs. on bar + bands
sets done on the minute (15 minutes total)

Standing overhead press w/ mini bands
15 sets of 3 with 100 lbs. on bar + bands
sets done on the minute (15 minutes total)

Kettlebell Snatch set @ 24kg
10 minutes, 20 rpm
right arm felt very good, it was the first arm
left arm felt bad from the start, even when doing a few warm-up reps with a 16kg. That will happen and just one of those days, but we got through.

I have the next 2 days off due to travel to San Diego and the America's Strongest Man competition. I will be performing a few demostrations at this event.

Training Day - June 18 - Wednesday

Barbell Clean + Jerk
3 x 50 kg
3 x 70
3 x 90
3 x 100
3 x 105

Back Squat
5 x 70kg
5 x 110
5 x 140
5 x 160
3 x 165

Incline Log Press
5 x 120 lbs.
5 x 164
5 x 186
5 x 208
5 x 230

RDL
5 x 70kg
5 x 130
5 x 160
5 x 170
5 x 180

Pullups
5 x bodyweight
5 x 8kg
5 x 12kg
5 x 16kg
5 x 20kg

Kettlebell Jerks @ 32kg, 2 minutes at 12 rpm

CoC Grippers (r/l)
#1 x 5
#2 x 5
#2.5 x 2
#3 x 1
#3.5 x 1 (not fully closed, but like to feel the big springs)

Traps and shoulders were still a bit sore from the 20-min LongCycle set on Monday. The log press felt good today finally and I hope to be seeing that weight continue to increase, the competition weight is 235 for reps. RDL's felt strong as usual so no surprise there, as well as the pullups. Jerks were feeling the effects of everything previous but its nice to feel the weight. Grip was a bit tired today and Friday will be a little grip day if any at all, I don't want to over do it and most of the other lifts touch on it some.

My "secrets" the Reader's Digest version

Well it seems everyone is always in search of the "secrets" to becoming great at anything. So this is my short and to the point Reader's Digest version.

Do the big lifts: squats, deadlifts, presses, cleans, jerks and snatches

This does not include the smith machine, leg press machine or any other piece of overpriced scrap metal. Leg pressing 1000lbs. really isn't impressive when you only squat 225lbs. That is not the carryover I'm looking for when trying to build strength.

Lift heavy: did you lift the weight, yes. Then add weight and lift again. Did you succeed, yes. Add more, fail, stop and come back in a few days to repeat.
Sounds stupidly simple but I cannot count high enough the amount of people I see in the gym on a daily basis lifting the same weight as they did last year or the last 5 years. If you want to get stronger, YOU MUST ADD MORE!!! More weight or reps is up to you and depends on your goals.

Have a record for numerous areas, not just competition lifts. My coach Valery Fedorenko has a personal record not only for a 10 minutes jerk set with 32kg, but also with 16kg, 24kg, 40kg and for all minutes in between and beyond. What I take understand from this is that we need to know where we stand and then look to always find ways to improve.

As my friend Zach Coulture has said, "There are NO secrets, only guys who train hard and train smart."

Training Day - June 16 - Monday

I mountain biked Vultures Knob, the vocal and best trail in Ohio, yesterday (June 15). A nice easy 13.3 miles door to door. If you bike and ever come out this way bring your bike and we'll go ride.

Now onto today. Legs still felling some fatigue so i decided to omit the squats for today.

Barbell Snatch
3 x 40kg
3 x 50
3 x 60
3 x 70
3 x 75

snatches felt decent today. starting to get my speed back up.

Incline Bench Press
5 x 135 lbs.
5 x 185
5 x 205
5 x 215
5 x 225

bench is a weakness of mine since i don't train it ever. But it is going to be an event in an upcoming strongman comp. so i have to get better.

Thick handle DB Rows - 2.5"
5 x 75 lbs.
5 x 100
5 x 125
5 x 135
5 x 140

A goal of mine for the year is to Clean and Jerk the Inch DB and these rows are upping my confidence big time.

Skull Crushers
5 x 85 lbs.
5 x 105
5 x 115
5 x 125
5 x 130

Straight Bar Curls
5 x 95 lbs.
5 x 115
5 x 125
5 x 130
5 x 135


Yeah, yeah I know, Arm work. You're only as strong as your weakest link so I say make them strong. you'll notice its NOT a bodybuilding routine, but a strength routine.

Finished the day off with a kettlebell set:

20 minutes, 1-arm Long Cycle @ 40kg, 5 rpm

Felt solid on the set, just a good overall conditioner. I really enjoy these 20-minute sets which is kind of scary.

Training Day - June 14, Saturday

Barbell Clean + Jerk
3 x 40kg
3 x 50
3 x 70
3 x 85
3 x 100


Squats with light jump stretch bands
12 sets of 2 @ 316 lbs. + bands at 1 minute intervals

I haven't done the dynamic squat is a while and these really tested my legs a great bit. In the past I have gained great strength from adding these in.

Standing Barbell Press with mini jump stretch bands
10 sets of 2 @ 140 lbs. + bands at 1 minute intervals

Definitely very taxing as my overhead pressing is weakness of mine.

Finished the day outside with some strongman practice in the Carry and Drag.
2 sets, Carry 220 field stone 30 yds then drag a 500lbs. back 30yds.

Done for the day and feeling good.

6/12 - Thursday Training

Bergener Snatch warm-up, I haven't done barbell snatches in a while so did a very thorough shoulder warm-up as that is my flexibility problem and I kept the total weight used down.

Barbell Snatch
3 x 40kg
3 x 50
3 x 60
3 x 70
3 x 75

Front Squat
5 x 40kg
5 x 50
5 x 60
5 x 80
5 x 110

Thick handle (2") DB Press
5 x 50 lbs. each arm
5 x 65
5 x 75
5 x 80
3 x 80

Pull-ups on Rings
5 x bodyweight
5 x 4kg
5 x 4kg
5 x 8kg
5 x 12kg

Incline Log Press (12" log)
5 x 120 lbs.
5 x 164
5 x 186
5 x 208
5 x 208

Grip:
CoC: Sport x 15
Trainer x 15
#1 x 10
#2 x 5, 5

Rollin Thunder: 135 x 3 (r/l)
160 x 3
175 x 3

Slow jog for 34 minutes

My Short Strength History

I’m Andrew Durniat and this is my short story. I grew up in Perrysburg, Ohio just south of Toledo. Started my strength training career like many, in my best friends basement with his older brother who played football. I laid down on the bench, unracked the bar, lowered it and that is where it stayed. They said to push and I said I was. So there I was, stuck under 45lbs. in my first experience of lifting weights in the 8^th grade. From then on all I wanted to do was get big and strong like Jeff. Needless to say, all of my training revolved around the thoughts of the Muscle Media and Muscle & Fitness magazines. The body building type workouts continued through high school while playing ice hockey. College lifting was not much different while having an All-American lacrosse career at Ohio Wesleyan University.

In 2005, while an assistant lacrosse coach at the College of Wooster, I went in search for something better, something to take my strength and conditioning to a new level. It was then that I found kettlebells and what they had to offer. Unfortunately it wasn’t until 2006 when I was able to meet up with Steve Cotter did I get to start training with the bells. After a couple of weekends with Steve, he influenced me to join him and others with Valery Fedorenko to Latvia for the 2006 World Championships. Watching professional GS athletes in action totally changed my views on what the human body is capable of accomplishing. I completed 42 jerks and 92 total snatches with the 32s on that trip. More work was needed, I was a lacrosse All-American and felt that I was in good shape for anything. I’m also highly competitive and want to be the best. Lorraine Patton told me to, “get with Valery and he will double your numbers in a year.”

I attended Valery’s first certification in January 2007 where he taught myself and others the ways of a world champion kettlebell lifter. We listened and 1 year later at the 2007 World Championships in Miami, FL I completed 79 jerks and 147 snatches with the 32s, Lorraine was right. Its now 2008 and I see over 100 jerks and 200 snatches on the horizon.

As I said before, kettlebell training opened my eyes to what the human body can accomplish. Since starting what I call my true strength career in 2005 I have educated myself with some of the best strength athletes and minds in the game. This knowledge has influenced my training and allowed me to win 2 strongman competitions, complete some highly sought after grip feats and a World Record double overhand axle deadlift of 210kg (462lbs.), finish two 100 mile mountain bike races and the LA triathlon, not to mention become one of the best kettlebell lifters in the US. I continue to rewrite the books on what can be accomplished by integrating; kettlebells, powerlifting, Olympic lifting and strongman training together to create the compete athlete.

Training Day - June 10 - Tuesday

Back from Hamburg and back to training. My next comp. is Western New York Strongest Man, July 19. Followed by NAKF Nationals in Fenton, July 26.

I will be training every other day. Stretching exercises will take place on days off.

Todays workout was spread out between clients as I had time.

Barbell Clean + Jerk
3 x 50
3 x 60
3 x 70
3 x 80
3 x 90

Back Squat
5 x 70
5 x 110
5 x 140
5 x 160
5 x 160

Bar Press
5 x 50
5 x 60
5 x 70
5 x 72
5 x 72

Bent Over Row
5 x 70
5 x 100
5 x 110
5 x 120
5 x 130

Axle Clean + Jerk
5 x 45
5 x 55
5 x 65
5 x 75
3 x 85

Kettlebell Snatch @ 24kg, 10 minutes, 12 rpm

Grip:
1 1/2" wrist roller - 10 lbs. x 2 sets
8lbs. sledgehammer wrist rotations 2 x 10 - hand 9" from hammer head