Favorite Strongman: #10 - Derek Poundstone

Kicking off the list is none other than America's Strongest Man, Derek Poundstone.

Why I like him:

Derek is a great representative for strongman. He's done a great job of marketing himself while bringing a positive light to our sport. He is a perfect combination of brutally strong, technically sound, and extraordinarily well conditioned. And despite his accomplishments he seems very approachable outside the competitive arena.

Other reasons to like Derek Poundstone:

• Hands down the best circus dumbbell presser in the world
• He's a cop
• Proposed to girlfriend after winning The 2010 Arnold Strongman Classic
• Drives a Dodge Viper

Career Highlights:

2007 - America's Strongest Man - I was there to witness this, as he set the standard for other strongmen to strive for. He had won the competition by such a wide margin that he could have probably not done the last two events and still maintained a respectable lead over his fellow competitors. I feel like this competition raised the bar for American Strongmen and launched Derek into the international strongman spotlight.

2008 - Fortissimus - The final event, the natural stone load. The competition belonged to Zydrunas Savickas, all that was left was the formality of letting Poundstone fail on loading the 517lb. Louis Cyr natural stone to it's platform (a task that all other competitors had failed to do as well). To the amazment of everyone in attendance Derek wrestled the stone to his lap and put it on the platform, beating Zydrunas by 1 point. Hands down one of the greatest strongman moments in history.

2009 - World's Strongest Man - Mariusz Pudzianowski vs. Derek Poundstone on the stones for the win. Derek jumps out and has the lead going into the last stone, he laps it and loads it, the stone slips from the edge of the platform and falls to the ground. Mariusz completes the final stone a second behind him for the win, Poundstone takes second. A real heart breaker, but still, we know know who was stronger that day.

My top 10

I'm in maintenance mode with the diet and hovering around 286lbs. bodyweight. I've taken a break from the world of the low calorie and low carb the past several weeks because I wanted to enjoy life. The minute I get up the nerve to continue and get back on the wagon I'll let you know.

The down side of putting the diet on hold is that I've been dry on blog content lately. And I have a lot of ideas for things to write, but scarcely the time for writing them.

What I've decided to do is to make a few top ten lists just to keep things simple and interesting. Also, I want to put together something fun, and hopefully inform/entertain along the way. Plus, everyone loves a list, I mean, nobody watches David Letterman for the celebrity interviews.

My first list was actually a difficult one to put together, and I've spent the last few days going over it in my head, scratching off names and rearranging and perfecting it. So, without further adieu, the first list will be...

My Top 10 Favorite Strongmen

The BarBell BQ

The last few weeks have been busy and I haven't really had time to do a proper post about the BarBell BQ.

I wanted to host a friendly strength competition at my house, and so my fellow gym members and I all agreed to a deadlift contest. I decided in setting up the rules to make it Bodyweight/Best Deadlift and the winner would be determined by ratio so we could all be in the same class. Well, when all was said and done we had about a dozen competitors, a pile of food, and a great time.

I broke my personal best in the Deadlift by 40lbs. and cracked the 600lb. barrier. I narrowly missed 625 on a special 4th attempt. Right before that attempt my sweet little girl yells "you can do it daddy!"... Friends, I've never flipped the switch like I did then. The 625lbs. made it to my knees faster than the 605, but I just didn't have the juice to lock it out. I don't suppose I'll ever forget that moment. It's good to be someone's big strong daddy.

Anyway, enjoy a couple of videos, and click here to be taken to my Facebook photo album.

Diet: Day 38

Oh boy, the march continues.

This was actually yesterday (Saturday) morning, bringing my total on day 38 to 15.8lbs lost. Shortly after this photo was taken I was on my way to the local doughnut shop for a dozen and few creme filled. I binged. I must have eaten 7 or so doughnuts before the pressure in my sugar deprived head began to rise and experienced such a sharp rise blood glucose that it made me dizzy. It was awesome. I had planned on a cheat weekend anyway, since we had family in town for mother's day and cheat I did.

At lunch I practically coated a Chick-fil-a chicken sandwich in Polynesian sauce and gobbled it up with a large order of waffle fries and some sweet tea.

For supper it was Outback, and all the bread, toowoomba pasta, and bloomin' onion my gullet could stow away. Then home for fistfuls of chocolate chip cookies and milk. Bam! I feel like a million bucks.

I'll get a fresh start Monday morning and resume the journey to skinny. But this weekend it was nice to feel normal. To actually get nourishment was refreshing. I feel in some ways renewed and ready to take on the challenge of another 15lbs.

My slow weight loss has proved beneficial in retaining muscle and strength. I feel good in the gym and I can tell I've lost a little strength, but not much. So I feel like my losses have not been much in terms of muscle (what everyone should strive to retain).

So there you go, 272, here I come.