Ready

I am set to compete at South Australia's Strongest Man 2015!!!

The past 6 months have involved lots of ups and downs, plenty of injuries, and a roller coaster of emotions. One thing has stayed consistent though, and that is my training, nutrition and recovery protocols. There has also been a lot of time to indulge and enjoy life, and I am feeling stronger  than ever before! My career as an educator has officially begun, and I am set to make the absolute most out of 2015!

120kg Axle, an Overhead PB

On the physical side of things, I'm feeling pretty good. I've managed to block out the annoyance of my right leg and the dead nerves in my knee, hips and face! I have a feeling these things will be giving me grief for some time to come. Will I return to strongman fully? I'm yet to see. I know one thing: I will definitely be doing this upcoming competition  with a heart full of pride and a body I can trust to hold out. The mental side of things has been much harder, dealing with the uncertainty of what I want out of all this training, not knowing whether I want to commit to strongman or powerlifting, constantly changing my schedule, getting injured (SI joint twice, among other little niggles I can attribute to the accident). I have only been getting back into strongman training for about 2 months, after I was cleared of needing more surgery. Before that it was a strength program involving mainly barbell compound lifts and a focus on powerlifting. As soon as I got my first taste of strongman, knowing I didn't have to worry about any serious injuries, I was back in my happy place. I realised that I love this kind of training, and I know I will continue doing it, whether I decide to keep competing or not!

 

The strength sports scene in SA continues to grow, and I am glad that I can continue to be involved in it whilst having the support of such great people. Training partners, good friends, fellow athletes, gym owners, and of course my sponsors Australian Muscle; I have all these people to thank for making my life so great since my accident, and allowing me to get the most out of my training. So thank you everybody!!!

I feel as if I am back to 100% , even though that may not be the case. So the accident set me back by a about a year, not bad for how messed up I was. I still stand firmly by my belief that it was my training that saved my life during that very critical injury.  A strong body saved me initially, and a strong mind is what helped me recover so quickly. Also yoga, that has been just awesome in my recovery as well! I couldn't be happier right now, and I've never felt more ready to kick ass!

Really though, as long as I keep hitting PBs, I'll be happy....

Thanks for reading. Will post results of SASM 2015

- Eli