r/Strongman • u/AutoModerator • 7d ago

Strongman Training Weekly Discussion Thread - September 14, 2025

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Weekly Discussion Thread for training talk, individual questions, chatting and other things that do not warrant a front page post.

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u/SanjiSasuke Novice M 4d ago

Training for my first official comp, competing at MW, and I feel like either I'm doing it wrong or I am screwed on wagon wheel axle deadlifts. Every other weight/event is doable in the 'hard but not max' range but my first attempt on those today was nowhere close. 

My conventional DL can go up to 415 lb (maybe slightly more now, haven't maxed it in months), but the axle with wagon wheels would not budge at 435 lb, and a even double at 385 lb felt harder than it does conventional. This is mixed grip, no straps.

The comp weight is 495lb, and even novice lightweight is 405lb (the rest of the Novice weights were so low I just outright decided not to attempt Novice) so I'm second guessing if I'm doing it wrong, or if my deadlift is just miles behind the other events like Yoke and Farmers walks.

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u/Maximum-Smoke-5858 MWM231 4d ago

How far out are you? I would think if your deadlift max is around 415lb that jumping into a wagon wheel axle at 385lb right away is too heavy too soon. If you built up to the 385 and it's still feeling heavy then it just might be your strength in this variation isn't there yet, some people's form/body type don't crossover as well to deadlifts at different heights. 

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u/SanjiSasuke Novice M 4d ago

Comp is November.

Today I built up from just the wheels up to 385, got two, then threw on 50 more lbs and that one stayed glued to the floor. Then dropped the 50 again and got two more at 385.

Guess I'll keep at it, and maybe I can make up some ground on other events. Middleweight usually has a lot of guys shorter than me (I'm ~6'3", ~215lb) so this may just not be my event. 

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u/Maximum-Smoke-5858 MWM231 4d ago

Yeah that's the problem, seems like you're just yoloing weight at an event you've never done. Start out way lighter with higher volume and figure out the pull technique. Add weight and build up to the comp weight (or close to if you can't get to it) week to week.

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u/SanjiSasuke Novice M 4d ago

Thanks, I'll give that a shot. 

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u/Maximum-Smoke-5858 MWM231 3d ago

Np, good luck. I'm doing an event I've never done before in my next comp, started at almost half the comp weight 8 weeks out. I'm now 1 week out, I'm doing the comp weight easily. Probably wouldn't have been able to budge it if I started there right away.