Strongman of the Month

Mark Philippi


Hometown: Las Vegas , Nevada

Age: 38

Height: 6'

Weight: 308 lbs

Chest: 56”

Biceps: 21"

Profession: Director of Strength & Conditioning at the University of Nevada at Las Vegas

Athletic Background:
Third place, 2003 America ’s Strongest Man Contest

Six-time World’s Strongest Man competitor, two-time finalist

Fourth place finish in 2002 Arnold ’s Strongest Man Contest

First place, 1997 America 's Strongest Man Contest

First Place , 1996 American Drug Free Powerlifting National Championships, 319 pound class 2165 lbs (982 kg) total

First place, 1996 World Drug Free Powerlifting Federation Championships, 319 pound class (145 kg class)

Offensive lineman and three-year starter at Montana Tech (1983-1987)

Strongmen at Work

Well I am learning more and more every day as we continue to beat the heck out of our bodies! The gains we are all obtaining more that meet our training goals. I am very happy to announce that South East Idaho Strongman now has video! Take a look and see us attempt some very fun lifts. Thanks again for checking us out here at southeastidahostrongman.blogspot.com

Great Workouts

Lately I have to give a lot of credit to Ben for developing a phenomenal workout schedule. Ben has developed a strength training schedule that would rival the best trainers at any gym. This week our workouts were taxing as well as rewarding. Ben is pushing us to our limits and has us walking as close to the edge of our strength ability as possible, while building our confidence in our physical abilities as well as building true overall full body strength. The following is as 1 week routine as outlined by Ben Giesler Southeast Idaho Strongmans authority on sports science and development.

Monday:

Squat, work up to a 3 rep max, then unload to a 2 set 8 rep
Zercher walking lunges 3 sets of 10
RDL's 4 sets of 12

Abs circuit: Sprinter sit ups, Spread eagle sit ups, Russian Twist, Bar bend 3 sets of 20

Tuesday:

Snatch 50% for 8 reps of 3
Standing Press / Rack lockout; work up to a 5 set 1 rep max
Pull up and Dumb Bell Cleans Super Set 4 set 8 rep max
Standing Dumbell Press 4 set 10 rep max
Shrugs and Curls: 3 set 10 rep max
Grip 2 sets Hold for time

Thursday:

Clean and Jerk 8 sets for 3 rep max at 50% max weight
Front Squat 8 set 3 rep max at 50% max weight for speed
Snatch grip dead lift 6 sets for 6 reps
Good Mornings 4 sets for 12 reps

Abs Circuit; Sprinter Sit up, hipup, Russian Twist, bar bend 3 sets for 20 reps

Friday:

Standing Pres: work up to a 3 rep max, unload for a 2 set 8 rep max
French Press at 2 sets to fail
Dumb Bell Row Dumb Bell Clean Super Set 4 sets for 10 reps
Shrug: 4 sets for 15 reps
Curl 3 sets for 15 reps
Grip 2 sets hold for time

This is a killer work out and is guaranteed to make you feel the burn every day is designed around a 90 min. time limit so try it out and have some fun. Thanks again to Ben for putting this great workout together.

New FaceBook Group

This week the powers at be here at South East Idaho Strongman created a FaceBook Group look for us under the sports and weighlifting catagories. We welcome all to join our group and follow along in our journey of strength and fitness. Remember there is an open invitation to anyone that wants to try any of our crazy stuff out Monday through Friday 5:30 to 7:00 pm at the World Gym in Idaho Falls Idaho.

Strongman Of The Month

Mark Felix

Mark Felix was born in 1966 in Grenada in 1966. At the age of 23 he moved to Great Harwood, Lancashire, England. He was a dedicated body builder and turned his attention to strongman competitions in 2003 at the age of 37, comparatively late in relation to other strength athletes.

Strongman Career
Having turned his attention to strength athletics, Mark Felix turned pro within a year when the IFSA Strongman professional team was launched in 2004. He placed third in England's Strongest Man in 2004. In 2005 Felix went on to place second in the IFSA version of England's Strongest Man. This led him to the IFSA British Championships that he won in 2005. Of the five events, Felix won three the Dead lift, Farmer’s Walk and Atlas Stones. Felix credited his victory to "Big hands, and a big heart".

New Implement

Well, we finally got our log done! Matt had this beauty fabricated and delivered for us last week. This log weighs in at 150 pounds with the ability to be loaded like a regular lifting barbell. The first time lifting it was a challenge not of weight but, of form. The more reps we did the easier it was to lift from the ground to the chest and then snap over the head for a gratifying lock out. I can't wait to be able to press in the 250 lb range for reps. Now that we have a good solid implement we can train right and train hard to become the best that we can. If anyone wants to come and try the log press for themselves drop on in any day after five at the World Gym in Idaho Falls.

Guest Strongman

Austin Is a trainer at World Gym in Idaho Falls, and isn't afraid to attempt any of our strongman implements. These pictures show Austin lifting a 200 pound stone. It just goes to show that if you have determination and a little will power you can do anything. Good job Austin

Eating a Clean Diet

A clean diet is the key to optimal performance. Eating clean is exactly what it sounds like. In a clean diet you restrict the amounts of refined sugars and white carbs that you would consume in a day. It also includes a diet rich in vegetables, proteins, and whole wheat grains consumed in moderation. Another key factor of a clean diet is portion control. It is very important to eat the recommended portion size listed on the label. These listed portion sizes will help keep you from over eating and adding unwanted calories to your daily intake. When eating a clean diet you will find that it is very helpful to have a snack in between breakfast and lunch and lunch and dinner, this will keep your metabolism running all day long increasing the amount of calories you burn at rest as well as during exercise. A clean diet also requires you to eat a large variety of green vegetables like green beans, broccoli, asparagus, snow peas, and the like. These deep green vegetables are great natural antioxidants that aid the body in the removal of free radicals. Removing these free radicals helps the body to stay healthy and vibrant purifying the body from the inside out. The removal of free radicals has been linked to healthy skin, cancer prevention, and also helps ward off heart disease. An example of a clean diet might look like this:

Breakfast
1 Cup Raisin Bran
½ cup 1% Milk
1 String Cheese

Lunch
1 Chicken Breast
1 to 2 Cups of Vegetables (green beans, broccoli, peas, carrots, cauliflower ect)
32oz of water
1 slice of whole wheat or whole grain bread
½ Cup of sugar free Jello

Dinner
A Healthy Choice Steamers meal From your local grocer. $2.30 at WalMart
Or
A South Beach Diet Wrap meal from your local grocer. $2.87 at WalMart

Both meals are only a total of 230 calories and are surprisingly filling.
I like to have a snack between meals usually a cheese stick and some whole wheat crackers like wheat thins between meals. Usually taken at 10:30 am and 3:30 pm. These snacks are light and keep your metabolism burning between meals.
You might have noticed that the biggest meal of the day is the mid day meal or lunch. The reasoning behind this is that you consume the bulk of your daily calories while you still have plenty of day left for your body to use them instead of storing the calories as fat your body will burn them as fuel. Another rule of thumb I try to stick to is o be done eating by 8:00 pm this will give your body time to digest and use the bulk of your diner intake as fuel before bed time. Eating clean is really pretty simple and after a few weeks of being conscious of what you are putting into your body it becomes a habit and not a chore. Eating clean has really helped me to achieve my fitness goals and I know that it will help you to improve yourselves and reach your fitness and strength goals.

Strong Man Of The Month

Bill Kazmaier
Born: Dec. 30, '53
Height: 6' 3"
Weight: 350 lbs
Home: Wisconsin USA

Bill Kazmaier won the World Strongest Man title three times, in 1980, 1981, and 1982. After these victories, Kazmaier chose not to compete in the 1983 WSM due to it being held outside the USA. Bill was not invited back to compete in the WSM contest again until 1988, where he finished second to Jon Paul Sigmersson. Bill finished fourth in his final WSM appearance in 1989. In the world of strongmen, the legend of Bill Kazmaier lives on due to his incredible super human strength and his ability to get a crowd hyped up as he impressed them with his raw power.

Benefits of Olympic Weight Training

You might be asking yourself what is Olympic Weight Training?
Olympic training consists of two main lifts, the Snatch and the Clean and Jerk. There are variations of these lifts that are often used to train in the Olympic style, lifts like Power Cleans, Overhead Press, and Front Squats all fall into the category of Olympic Weight Training.
Olympic weight training is favorable for training optimal technique in athletes that want to increase there performance levels in all sports. Including football, baseball, basketball and the like. Olympic lifting has been proven to enhance an athletes strength, agility, speed, and focus. You might be wondering how Olympic lifting can accomplish all these feats, Olympic training trains the body to explode and use its maximum possible force. The techniques of the lifts train the bodies fast twitch muscle fibers. These fibers are what give the body the potential of speed, explosiveness, and power. The more we train these fast twitch muscle fibers the faster and more powerful the body will be. Fast twitch muscle fibers are directly related to an athletes ability to jump, the more you have the higher you can jump. An athletes vertical jump is a universal tool in assessing ones overall athletic ability. In 1968 at the Mexico City Olympic Games the first testing of the sprinting and jumping abilities of all athletes were recorded. They tested all Olympic athletes by there vertical jump and a 25 meter sprint. The Olympic Weight Lifters out performed the world class sprinters and jumpers in these exercises. This only goes to prove that Olympic weight training is a great overall body work out that prepares the body for all kinds of physical activity. Olympic weight training is also a good supplement to any weight loss plan. Olympic Training aids in the process of metabolizing fats, burning tons of calories while performing the exercises. Olympic weight training also increases an athletes stamina resulting in optimum performance. I have incorporated a large amount of Olympic Style training into my own routine of Cardio and weight training. I have seen a big change in the way that I feel and the weights that I can put up. I have been on my active training regimen for four weeks now and have dropped my own weight from 420 pounds to 375 pounds by incorporating these core full body workouts into my training. In closing I would just like to add that Olympic Training is the best type of training that I have found to achieve an overall strong body, when used with a good clean diet and cardiovascular training there is nothing better.

Strongman Of The Month

Jón Páll Sigmarsson

(April 28, 1960 – January 16, 1993)

A strongman, a powerlifter , a bodybuilder and a weightlifter from Iceland who won the World's Strongest Man Competition four times (1984, 1986, 1988, 1990). His achievements in powerlifting also include Icelandic records in the bench press and the squat, but his best performances were usually in the deadlift event, in which he set the European record many times.

A quote from Jon "there is no point in being alive if you cannot do the deadlift". In a tragic irony, he died at the age of 32 while performing this exercise in the gym. He will always be remembered as one of the greatest strength athletes of his time.

A Grand New Year January 2009

Let me first start by apologizing for dropping of the map for the last 2 months. The holidays did a number on me. Now that the toughest part of the year is over it is time for a great new beginning. I started a new training program on the 12th of this month. My beginning weight was 420 lbs, as of today I weighed in at 390 lbs I am pretty stoked with my new program. Matt, Ben and I have really started training hard again with great benefits. Ben is gaining strength by the day and Matt is still the ultimate in strength. He is a great coach and is helping us achieve the gains required to begin in the wonderful world of strength.

I will post some pictures of some of the things that we have been up to in this new year. I will also do my best to keep this blog up to date. I now have the Internet at my home so it will be easier. Thanks again for checking us out here at the Southeast Idaho Strongman Blog.