Heavy Lifts

Friday, April 26, 2024

Hip Lift

210

300

390

442.5

495

562.5

Hand & Thigh

392.5

Neck

120

170

This was a test run with the new Hip Belt and the Ironmind Neck Harness.  Both worked very well and I have no concerns with loading heavier.

5 Pull-up Finisher

Hip Belt

I finally made it over to Tandy Leather to begin construction of my hip belt.  The leather I had purchased from Facebook Marketplace for $25 was double thick and somewhat dried out.  The Delta Rings are much beefier than I need, but in the absence of making custom rings will have to do the trick.

This time I was working with Shawn who was super helpful getting me going and being an extra pair of hands which was very beneficial for the draw gauge.

Started off cutting an end with a utility knife.  Then I measured off 55 inches and cut the strip off of the length of leather.  Next we used a draw gauge to trim the leather down to 4" thickness by removing approximately 3/4."  At this point a fold needed to be made and we utilized an adjustable v-gouge to remove some material and relieve the leather for a bend.  Next, I started punching the holes for the rivets.  At this point we realized the leather was more dried out than we originally thought.  Shawn suggested conditioning the leather before installing rivets.

I applied Dr. Jackson's Hide Rejuvenator and will let it soak in for 24 hours and then buff off the cream.

For rivets, I am planning a 4 hole pattern using #9 brass rivets.  Brass has a shear strength of 30,500 psi.  So my #9 = 3/16" has an area of 0.0276 inches and a shear strength of 842 pounds.  With 4 rivets, I should be good to a 3200 pound lift.

The cost of a 25 pack of rivets is $25 and the rivet setter is another $10.  Together with the Delta rings that were $5 each (I purchased five to save on shipping).  I am at $85 for the project.  I will have enough material to make several more items and may choose to do so, but certainly not to offset cost.  More likely to help somebody out.

So far the leather I am using is definitely too thick and the delta rings too beefy.  I could certainly get away with single thick leather and would be better off with custom delta rings.

UPDATE 4/25/2024 - Well the hip belt is complete and should work fine.  Installing the rivets was not too bad.  It took me a little while to line things up and punch holes.  The more painstaking work was flattening out the non-finished side.

One issue is the size of the delta rings.  They are really thick which makes it difficult to connect the grab hook and quick link.  In the immediate term I attached some oval carabiners which should work for the weights I am moving, but not for the big boys.  Perfect world, I would file them delta rings down to accept the quick link opening and shackle opening.

Delta Ring Diameter - 0.53 inches

Grab Hook - 0.46 inches

Quick Link - 0.44 inches

Taking off a tenth of an inch may not sound like much but will be tough with a hand file.

3' of 5/16" chain ($15), 5/16" grab hook ($10), 5/16" quick link ($5) set me back another $30 on the project.

This unfortunately confirms my theory that being able to perform heavy lifts is an expensive, space consuming and time consuming endeavor.  

$25 - Leather (have leftover)

$20 - Delta hooks (used 2 of 5 purchased)

$35 - #9 brass rivets and setters (used 8 of 25 purchased)

$30 - Chain, grab hook and quick link

--

$110 for the belt, but also a great learning experience.  I have enough material to build a neck harness or full harness.  I need to practice with Ironmind neck harness some and give the hip belt a run for its money tomorrow.

Deadlift - Metcon

Sunday, April 21, 2024

Garage Gym

1400

Warm Up

Jumping Jacks

Hip Hammy Flow

Reverse Hyper

RDL

Deadlift

12x135

10x165

8x195

6x225

4x255

2x285#

Metcon

6 Rounds for Time:

400m row

6 burpees over the rower

This took way longer than I expected.  I started off at a reasonable 3:20 in the first round and then slowed down considerable.  Thank goodness I had guests show up in the middle of burpees during the 5th round which allowed for a 5 minute break at 17:32.  It was a real mental challenge to finish this up in 21:43

4/19/2024 - Net Gym Cost

$17,274

Basics - $5,537

• Weights - $2857 (1765 pounds)
• Barbells - $1389 (9 barbells)
• Flooring - $600 (2x2, stall mats, gymnastics mats)
• Collars - $275
• Benches - $275
• Dumbbells - $101 (454 pounds)
• Rack - $40

Cardio - $1790

Row Erg - $990

Ski Erg - $800

CrossFit - $1500

• Abmats (6)
• Kettlebells (35-35-44-53)
• Rope
• Wallballs (6-8-14-20)
• Plyoboxes (63" foam, J-Box)
• Rings
• Jump Ropes
• Parallettes
• Weight Vest
• Pull-up bar
• Deadball (20-55#)
• Deka Ram (44#)

Strongman - $1340

• Sandbag - 50#
• Atlas Stones - 70, 95#
• Axle Bar - Rep Stubby
• Axle Bar - Full Length
• Yoke - Raptor
• Farmer's Carry Handles - Titan
• Husafell Bag - 150#
• Black Iron Strength - 2.5" Bar
• Strongman Log - Harambe 12" 80# empty
• Atlas Ball - 100# Rage
• Dinnie Loading Pins

Misc - $3628

• Storage - $836
• DC Blocks - $350
• OKE - $339
• Reverse Hyper - $250
• Timers - $188
• Back Extension - $180
• Decorations - $154
• Squat Box - $150
• Drop Pads - $150
• Grip - $150 (net off of grip list)
• Bands - $147
• Ab Bench - $130
• Preacher Curl Bench - $130
• Specialty Bar - $100
• Deadlift Jack - $90
• Fatbells - $50
• Mace, Indian Clubs, Neck Harness, T-bell, Roman Chair, Bosu, Chains, Battle Rope - $234

Vintage - $1715

• Olympic Plates (985 pounds) - $1,015
• Standard Plates (250 pounds) - $165
• Dumbbells (750 pounds) - $360
• Squat Stands - $175

Grip - $1914

• Contest Implements - $822
• USAWA - $500
• Gripper - $332
• Misc - $190
• Feats - $50
• MMA (Bulgarian Bags) - $20

I got a lot of shit.  It is to the point that I am pushing the boundaries of reasonable spending and storage space.  I still have a wish list to boot.  I am looking for a bike erg, magnetic sled, stall mat, safety squat bar, Saxon bar, Country Crush implements and any vintage equipment that comes my way.

Further, I am not ready to part with anything.  I could sell the rig and some plates, but that would not make much of a difference.

Back Squat - Metcon

Friday, April 19, 2024

Basement Gym

1230

Warm Up

Jumping Jacks

Hip Hammy Flow

Back Squat (3x12)

8x45

8x95

12x115

12x115

12x115

Metcon

3 Rounds for Time:

500m ski erg

20 med ball sit-ups (20#)

Finished in 13:29, this was a pretty good little mover.  I want to keep throwing Deka stations into my conditioning workouts.  Definitely started feeling the strain on my anterior chain.

Round 1 ~ 4 min

Round 2 ~ 4:30 min

Round 3 ~ 5 min

USAWA - Nancy

Wednesday, April 17, 2024

Garage Gym

1300

USAWA

Leg Press - Self Loaded - Epic fail, I do not have the mobility to consider this lift today.  Even if I were to somehow load the bar, I would not be able to press it out to a straight leg position.  Need some more hamstring lengthening work

Deadlift - Stiff Legged - This went better than I expected and I could complete a lift at 135 pounds

Deadlift - One Leg - This was challenging as well.  I was successful at 63 pounds with both the right and left leg.  135 pounds was an abysmal failure.  I dropped to 95 pounds and was successful on my right leg.  I went to 75 pounds and was successful on both legs.

Leg Press - Unsupported - Could not straight legs, even with a measly 35 pounds on the bar.  Hamstring mobility.

Nancy

I opted to do this with a PVC and it still took me 20:10.  The runs were fine, albeit slow at around 2:45 to 3:00 each and the 15 OHS took around 0:45 to 1:00 to complete.  They were all unbroken, but certainly paused.

35 push-up finisher during Diya's track meet.

I am now up to 104 of 191 lifts attempted and succeeded and 2 attempted but could not complete.  There are still plenty of interesting lifts on my list to try.

USAWA - Clark's Gym Record Day

Sunday, April 14, 2024

HCV - Garage Gym

1400

Warm Up

Reverse Hyper

Crossover Symmetry

Hip Hammy Flow

USAWA Record Session

• Deanna Lift - 300, 320, 340# (moved well, may have more in me)
• Rectangular Fix - 65, 70# (tough lift, hard to get/stay parallel to platform)
• Pullover Straight Arm - 39, 44# (tough lift, a lot of strain on shoulders)
• Rectangular Fix, Fulton Bar - 50, 55# (not bad, hard on grip)
• Good Morning - 75# (harder than I though to get to parallel, tendency to round back and want to bend knees which have to stay locked out.
• Shoulder Drop - 33# (just messing around after the comp)
• Thor's Hammer - struggled with 21#

It was a fun event with Jarrod and Kim in attendance.  I held onto Kim's heavy bar and she borrowed my 2 inch vertical bar.

With my new efforts on the fixes, pullover and shoulder drop, I am up to 101 of 191 USAWA lifts attempted.

Coming up for the Q2 Postal - 

• Push Press from Racks - OPEN
• Hack Lift - One Hand - 248# R/L Bill DiCiccio (set 6/4/1994)
• Pullover - Bent Arm - OPEN