Here it is fall, 2009. Combatfitnessblog.com(formerly traintostandard) has been alive for over a year now and we’ve covered everything from pushups to powerlifting. As athletes and professionals, we must remain within a standard for our respective service, but also remember that we are humans as well. Not only humans, but men and women who strive to be better than the rest. This is why we lift heavy weights that society sees as outlandish, or run 10 miles every other day.
Hell, most Americans get tired just DRIVING 10 miles.
But we do it, and do it DAMN good too. On my first post back from the summer break, im introducing you to someone who you probably already know.
Derek Poundstone.
You may know that hes America strongest man, runner up for the 2008 WORLDS strongest man and just an all around animal when it comes to training. You may NOT know something thats just as important to him as strongman and strength training.
In his home town, Hes known as OFFICER Derek Poundstone.
Yes thats right, Derek, Standing at a svelte 6′1″ 315lbs, is an active police officer in Naugatuck, CT. Not only does he train constantly to become THE best in his respective sport, he spends countless hours a week keeping the streets safe from criminals. The respect he gets in the strength world should be nothing in comparison to the respect he should receive for answering the call to duty.
Derek is training for the 2009 Worlds Strongest Man competition, held this year in Malta this year. He is a heavy favorite to finally take the crown from 5 time champion, Polands Mariusz Pudzianowski(who was featured in July). Enjoy this video of Poundstone pulling a local firetruck, training for the “Airplane Pull” he has in this years competition.
Ive taken a little vacation from posting here after my show. I was a little disappointed with my standings in the last show… not my performance. I had the best performance of my career in july. Unfortunately, somethings which were out of my control factored in. If nothing, it was a great experience and a life lesson for the future.
I will be returning to regular postings in the next few weeks, so get ready for regular content and guest posters in the military and general fitness industry.
I’ve got less than 2 days until my next strongman show and ill be traveling tomorrow, so this will be the final blog post before hand. Shortly after the show, ill be on TDY orders for the next couple of weeks. Fortunately ill still have Internet and a laptop to communicate with you all.
On a side note, if anyone has ever done the Army’s CLS class, leave me a message and let me know your experiences with being IV’d by amateur military members. Im interested in hearing some good stuff!
In honor of the great sport of strongman, Im posting up this phenomenally edited video of the greatest strongman ever, Mariousz Pudzianowski. Enjoy, and ill talk to you after the show!
Your military meathead has been training for his next strongman competition and I thought you should see what kind of training Ive killing..
(Note, this is not very beneficial for military physical fitness, as you can see by my elevated weight, but I can drop and add weight pretty easily. Dont worry, ill be back into combat shape in no time.)
Before I post the training, Here is the show’s events and specifics, If anyone happens to be in the Ft Myers, Fla area.
Log press for reps (for competition’s sake, the weight is not told just yet)
Atlas Stone Loading… weights also kept private(for now)
Ill Keep you updated as I get closer and closer to the show. Im shooting for that First place trophy!
-Donnie
PS, dont forget to check out the great unconventional training book on the planet. If you want to get involved in odd object loading and overhead pressing along with so much more, then check out my highly acclaimed book Maximize Your PT
Donnie Kiernan is just a normal guy who has a love for training Military, Police and Firefighter's to their peak physical condition. His background includes serving in the United States Army Intelligence Corps, membership and active competitor in the North American Strongman Inc. and several years of experience in the marketing industry. He is currently training for a pending deployment to Iraq in support of Operation New Dawn.
