britonarius’s mindset blog

Got a wildcard entry into a strongman contest on saturday - one of the competitors had to pull out due to a bad hamstring and a friend put my name forward as a replacement.I learnt a lot - 8 competitors including myself - all except me under 35 - and i placed third. When i consider i was not ready for this - it gives me hope for the autumn. The winner said to me that given my age i was awesome - that make me feel real good - as he is a professional and does this for a living. He was in the comp due to his sponsor being the sponsor of the event. For a last minute thing as standin i performed well - won the truck pull [ against a pro - haha] and placed no lower than 4 th in all the other events - way to go i think!

I recently tested 3 pre work out pumps - Universals animal pump , Gaspari’s Superpumped 250 and Star labs Armegeddon.It was really no contest - animal pump is pills and the effect is short lived - too short - so 3/10 for Universal on that! Gaspari product superpumped 250 - well it works but no kick or buzz - evil taste - all of gaspari products taste like crap , made by a demented dwarf like chemist out to punish us i think! However it does work but gives no help on increasing either weightloads or sets or reps.The pump in the locker room is good but its not got that edge , the edge that would make it stand out! So Gaspari , - 5/10 - would have been 7/10 but its way overpriced for its effects! So - the winner is Armegeddon by Star - on in work supps - there EvolutionX10 topped Size On easily - Great pump , increased weight load - sets and reps - the best pre work supp - i have tried - 9/10 - plus great taste.

For 2 weeks running i have managed to rep - 350 kilos deads but any extra and i can only get one lift. Its not a question of too much iron the bar - nor that i believe that its not possible to lift it - rather it is a question of science! I am unconvinced - alarmingly so - that human fingers are not designed for taking such extreme weights. Going to continue with the tennis ball squeezing to see if i can muscle just a little more out of the fingers. One thing is sure - i am not resorting to straps , gloves or hooks! Others can - no problem - but i want to do this "au Natural "

As my last blog mentioned - i am testing 3 pre work out supps , using myself as the lab rat , so you don’t have to! So far , my inital findings are this:

Animal pump by Universal /Its a reasonable supp , not too expensive but like a lot of Universal products , its tablets. That personally is a turn off - the bulk of these are difficult to swallow , one or two are on the outer limits for horses i would imagine. However it gives a good pump and does the job. Not the greatest buzz but not bad.

Superpumped250 by Gaspari - This is a little more expensive but it is a powder and that is preferable. The worse thing about Gaspari is the evil flavouring - get your act together Gaspari - i mean we ain’t brain dead morons without taste buds! You wouldn’t be aware of a buzz - but it gives a real good pump - and acts well.

Armegeddon by Star - This is a similar price to Gaspari but tastes way better -real heavy buzz and great pumps! Got to admit i like it already!

If i was going to drop one of the 3 - it would be Animal Pump! Whilst it works - being pills its a pain in the butt -

I am testing 3 pre work out supps over a period of time and i will let people know what is the best [ in my opinion] at the end of the test. The 3 in question are Animal pump by Universal , Armegeddon by Star labs and Superpumped 250 by Gaspari. I recently tested 2 in work supps but as i said in an earlier blog Evolution X10 won that easily.

Having been using the tennis balls to increase wrist and finger strength over the past few weeks - i opted to superset Romanian deads at 330kilos [ 726lbs ] with Stiff leg deads at the same weight and Hack squats to [rest a little ] at 275kilos [ 605lbs]. I did 4 sets of 6 reps each exercise - then did leg press at 275 kilos with calf exs on the leg press at 200kilos[ 440lbs] - not bad for a 51 year old!

I don’t often do this - but i figure what the hell - if it helps lets do it! What am i talking about ? Supplements - in work supps to be precise! I have just used 2 over identical periods and identical workouts in an air conditioned gym - so everything , even the clothing was the same. Which 2 did i use? EvolutionX10 by star labs & Size On by gaspari. Both help during workout , though for sheer pump power on mass weights - evolution wins hands down. The after pump from both is good , hard to seperate , so i am gonna give it as a draw. Quantities on liquid consumed are similar but Evolution wins beyond doubt in taste and texture. The Size on looks like wallpaper paste , tastes like urine from a dog [ a bloody sick one ] and is so artifical in taste that one doubts it has ever seen a lemon or sadly has its creator. I tried the arctic lemon flavour - what have lemons got to do with the arctic? [ answers on a postcard to gaspari ] - i don’t know and i am not going to ask! The evolution has a more natural flavour , and an even texture - and the kick from evolution is quicker , lasts longer and is definitely more pronounced. So - save the money - think Evolution X10 rather than Size on. Marks are Size on 3/10 & Evolution X10 9/10. Think smarter , train harder - = Evolution X10

John McEnroe is safe , i am not going to take up tennis - figure i have enough to do with the steel and my anticipated rugby comeback. Mac will always be the greatest player - he made it interesting, got to love you John for that!Tennis interesting - dang , but John made it so.

The reason for my little title was this - i lift heavy - too heavy perhaps , but what is life without a little danger and the odd challenge! What do you do when the weight is approaching the max out for the fingers and hands to take? I mean do i resort to straps? In my mind thats cheating - ohh , i know many will attack! Straps and he said cheating! I said in my mind [ trust me - you don’t want to be in there!] - its cheating.

The solution is to try and add a little extra to the fingers! Hence my title - via squeezing a tennis ball! Pump those balls boy! will it work - uhh! don’t know! Gonna try it though! Day and night - squeeze , pump , squeeze - let you know if it works!

My favourite T-shirt got attacked by a red sock in the washing machine - got to hate red socks for ever now! So it won’t be the same again and it is taking me a while to get over it. Its ruined and mentally i can’t accept that - still training hard at the gym but its not the same without my favourite t-shirt. So at this stage , i am refusing to wear any t-shirts that i care about - just in case.Add on to that that my hard drive crashed out last week - so i spent the best part of a week without internet.I got the computer fixed , got a 160GB hard drive in for $50 , cheap enough but the t-shirt is unreplacable. Guess i am going to have to mash the steel to get over it - but one thing is for sure , it’s pissed me off big time!

The local town i train in is getting a rugby team together , it has a juniors side and a fairly useful ladies side but until now no mens team. I played at a high level until retirement but given my experience and skills , i am considering enlisting and getting back into it. This is a strictly amateur level and i am hoping that i can pass on a few skills and tricks [ legal ones] to those willing to learn. I feel at age 51 and at a low amateur level that i can still serve a team well. I was moments away from international status when i took my first major injury and that curtailed my international career and any chances i had of representing my country. Things like that a person never gets over fully! So - hopefully it is back to the grind !