Balancing Life and Training: The Busy Competitor's way to be Successful

I only have 45 minutes to train. Can I actually have an effective strongman workout in 45 minutes?


For whatever reason, we tend to think of training as so concrete. We put these arbitrary times next to our workouts without including the context of our lives, and end up tired and frustrated. I’ve been there. 


When I first started my “big boy” job after college, I tried every way to cram three sessions of two hours into my day. Here’s what I tried… 

  • Waking up at 3:30 AM to train. In my head I thought this was making me “mentally tougher”, but really I was just becoming more exhausted. The things we do at 22, right? (Note: NOT a knock on people who actually have to do this. There are some people who absolutely need to train early mornings. I’m poking fun at the guys who post things such as “WOKE UP AT 3:30 TO TEST MYSELF”! Congrats, your workout probably wasn’t as excellent as it could of been and now your just tired for work. Yay you!). 

  • Splitting my workouts into a morning session and an afternoon session. Possible, but not the way I was doing it, and I still didn’t have a social life outside of training. 

  • Training after practice. I coached junior varsity football after college. Often we would finish at 7. What did this lead to? Late dinners and terrible sleep. 


Here are the consequences of my actions: 

  • Horrid sleep, which is often associated with lower testosterone levels, which we all know is a really, really bad thing for a strength athlete. 

  • Work problems. I was a teacher. Being grumpy and tired at work with third graders doesn’t only suck for the teacher, but is unfair to the kids.  

  • I completely abandoned friendships and basically became a hermit, besides coaching football and work. I also disregarded valuable time with family, some of which are no longer living. Not something I’m proud of. 


After my third year of teaching, I started my masters degree while still working full time. Yes, it took me three years to recognize that this “hardcore mentality” was actually quite bad for my training. 


Come my fourth year, I finally realized something; 


Life isn’t just lifting weights. 


I finally acknowledged that I had obligations outside of training that needed to be completed. Competing in strongman is a hobby; I wasn’t treating it that way. 


After recognizing, acknowledging, and accepting I had sabotaged myself for three years, I came up with a better plan. 


Ironically, this new approach, leaning to less is more, resulted in my first national championship and world record. 


The Busy Competitor’s Realistic Schedule 


I probably sound really stupid writing this. I program for guys who have kids, wives, and full time jobs who STILL make training work. That being said, there are ways to make your training still effective while budgeting time. Here was my realistic approach to balancing my work, education, and training schedule…


Tuesday: Pressing, 45 minutes 

Wednesday: Pull Focus, 45 minutes 

Thursday: High Intensity Cardio, 15 minutes 

Saturday: Strongman Pressing Focus, 2 hours 

Sunday: Event Focus, 2 hours 


In that week, I still manage a cardio session, an hour and 30 minutes of training during the week, and 4 hours over the weekend. What would the sessions look like? Well, there are a few key rules to this… 


  1. INTENSITY. A compound movement should take around 20 minutes of your workout. You should include one set that is particularly difficult, (perhaps an AMRAP), and catch volume both on the way up and in downsets. 

  2. A programmed second compound exercise that addresses something you missed above. This should take 15 minutes. 

  3. Tri-Sets and Supersets, but intelligently programmed: No, don’t do the last 25 minutes of tri-sets and supersets. Pick 2-3 accessory exercises you have found to be extraordinarily beneficial to your movements. This should take roughly 10 minutes of your training session. I like to pick my weakest lifts and use those to dictate my tri-sets. 

  4. Don’t try to implement strongman movements during the week. They take forever to take out and clean up. Not a great combination for someone really needing to hurry! 

  5. Make it count. Don’t add in fluff just to add fluff. BE STRATEGIC. 


How might this look? 


Here’s a split I would use, based on the above constraints… 


Day 1: Press focus

Compound One: Push Press *Warm Up sets should only have a minute rest! 

135 x 3 

155 x 3 

185 x 3 

215 x 3 

240 x 3+ ( ) 

220 x 3+ ( ) 


Compound Two: Close Grip Bench *Warm Up sets should only have a minute rest! 

135 x 3 

185 x 3 

225 x 5+ ( ) 

225 x 5+ ( ) 


Tri-Set: (1 minute rest between sets!)


Exercise 1: Rolling Tricep Extension

10 reps 


Exercise 2: DB Incline Bench

15 reps 


Exercise 3: Rope Pushdown 

15 reps


Goal is 3 sets! 


Day 2: Pull Focus


Compound 1: Snatch Grip Deadlift *One Minute rest between Warm Ups! 

135 x 5 

225 x 5 

275 x 5 

315 x 3 

365 x 3 

425 x 3+ ( )


Compound 2: Front Squat 

135 x 3 

185 x 3 

225 x 3 

275 x 3+ ( )

Pause Squat Switch

225 x 3+ ( )


Tri-Set *1 minute rest between each set! 

Exercise 1: DB Walking Lunge 

10 reps per leg 


Exercise 2: Barbell Row

12 reps 


Exercise 3: Lat Pulldown 

10 reps 


Goal is 3 sets in 10 minutes! 


Day 3: Strongman Pressing Day 

You should practice your pressing focus for events, and include about an hour of accessory work. I like to do the following… 

 

Strongman Press Focus: 45 minutes 

*This includes comp practice, drill work, etc. 


Accessory Work 


Dips


DB Strict Press


Machine Press 


Rear Delt Raise 


Face Pulls 


Day 4: Strongman Event Day 

Competition work will take up most of this day. Most likely, you will have three events you need to train for this day. I suggest using the first hour and a half to train these events and drill as necessary. An alternative is moving an event up a day and cutting your pressing time in half. You can complete your event day in a more balanced manner, or add more time to a weakness. If you suck at yoke but are great at stones, maybe you spend 45 minutes on yoke and only 15 on stones. 


Competition Event 1: 30 minutes

Competition Event 2: 30 minutes 

Competition Event 3: 30 minutes 


Accessory work: I suggest using this day to double up on back and hamstring work. Add some biceps in (healthy and strong biceps are happy biceps). 


There it is, a basic outline on how to balance the everyday insanity of life and training. Remember, training is a small part of our overall performance. Sleep, nutrition, and stress all need to be balanced in order to improve performance. Remember; if you're already a busy person, sacrificing one of those three (or multiple) factors will hamper your results, even if you are training for two hours a day. Not to mention, being a balanced human is something we should all strive for. 

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