Coach Andrew Clayton

⭐️ 𝐂𝐨𝐚𝐜𝐡 𝐀𝐧𝐝𝐫𝐞𝐰 - 𝐆𝐞𝐭 𝐭𝐨 𝐊𝐧𝐨𝐰 𝐌𝐞 ⁣ Hi everyone!⁣ ⁣ Just introducing myself to all my new followers and friends. As many might already know I am a strength coach through @firstcalledstrength . I am pumped to be able to help and serve so many people in reaching their goals through my business. ⁣ For those that might not know me here are some things about myself.⁣ ⁣ ❓𝐑𝐚𝐧𝐝𝐨𝐦 𝐅𝐚𝐜𝐭𝐬: ⁣ -I enjoy eating canned beets straight from the can⁣ -I love visiting art museums ⁣ -I have a speech impediment ⁣ -I found strength training after not fitting in during high school ⁣ -I have coached or done personal training in some fashion for 10+ years⁣ ⁣ ❤️ 𝗪𝐡𝐲 𝐈 𝐋𝐨𝐯𝐞 𝐂𝐨𝐚𝐜𝐡𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐎𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐫𝐬:⁣ Being a coach allows me to encourage and foster belief in those who might have been looked over. I believe everyone has potential for strength and can live their most confident and strongest life possible with the right coach and support. ⁣ ⁣ 📕 𝐄𝐝𝐮𝐜𝐚𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧: ⁣ BS in Athlete Training from UNF⁣ Certified Strength & Conditioning Specialist (CSCS)⁣ ⁣ ⏰ 𝐄𝐱𝐩𝐞𝐫𝐢𝐞𝐧𝐜𝐞:⁣ -13+ years Competing in Strongman (9+ Years as a Professional)⁣ -2017 & 2022 World's Strongest Man, 105kg division ⁣ -Giants Live and Arnold Pro Series Competitor ⁣ -National & Former World Record Holder in Strongman and Ultramarathon Ski Erg⁣ -Nationally Ranked Weightlifter in 2017⁣ -Nationally Qualified Bodybuilder ⁣ -Elite Powerlifting Total ⁣ -Endurance Sports including ultramarathon, marathons, and triathlon⁣ ⁣ 🔥𝐒𝐩𝐞𝐜𝐢𝐚𝐥𝐭𝐢𝐞𝐬: ⁣ -Strength Training⁣ -Strongman/Powerlifting ⁣ -Muscle Building ⁣ -Working around Injury⁣ -Mindset & Contest Strategy Preparation⁣ -Caring about you as more than an athlete ⁣ 🙂I hope you all enjoyed learning about me. Would love to learn more about you guys. Drop me a comment with the most unique thing about you 👇🏻👇🏻⁣ ⁣ ⁣⁣⁣⁣ ⁣ 🚨𝐅𝐨𝐫 𝐂𝐨𝐚𝐜𝐡𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐈𝐧𝐪𝐮𝐢𝐫𝐞𝐬…⁣ ⁣⁣⁣⁣⁣⁣⁣ Shoot me a DM, Email, or Contact me at: ⁣⁣⁣⁣⁣⁣⁣ @FirstCalledStrength ⁣⁣⁣⁣⁣⁣⁣ ⁣⁣⁣⁣⁣⁣⁣ ⁣⁣⁣⁣ ⁣⁣⁣⁣⁣⁣⁣⁣⁣⁣⁣⁣⁣⁣ ⁣⁣⁣⁣⁣⁣⁣⁣⁣⁣⁣⁣ ⁣ ⁣⁣⁣⁣⁣⁣⁣⁣⁣⁣⁣#runningstrongman #firstcalledstrength #firstcalledstrengthandperformance #strongman

Is @runningstrongman the greatest 105kg strongman of all time? 2x u105kg OSG champion and Open champion!

🗣 𝐇𝐲𝐩𝐨𝐜𝐫𝐢𝐭𝐞: 𝗪𝐡𝐨 𝐚𝐦 𝐈 𝐚𝐧𝐲𝐰𝐚𝐲𝐬? ⁣ ⁣ Discuss religion with anyone these days and the “H” word gets thrown out often to describe those of religion. We strongly dislike anyone who says they are one way and yet act differently. ⁣ ⁣ And then I think, darn. That’s me. ⁣ ⁣ A battle between two internal wolves and which one to feed on a daily basis. Feed the the good, the spirit, and the bad, the flesh, seems to howl louder. ⁣ ⁣ Who am I anyways?⁣ ⁣ Living with what seems to be two brains, two ways of thinking. Slow and logical contrasted with fast and emotional. Never seeming to make the same decision. Two personalities of one self. ⁣ ⁣ Who am I anyways? ⁣ ⁣ Promoting mental toughness in an extreme sport while struggling to do routine daily tasks. Losing energy and focus. Feeling lost in all arenas outside of the physical manifestation of my strength. ⁣ ⁣ Who am I anyways? ⁣ ⁣ A person desiring to be judged by my future actions and not my past. Hoping to feed the good wolf and starve off the bad. Wishing to never be the dreaded “H” word, though it seems a fruitless cry being human. ⁣ ⁣ Who are you anyways? Have you been called a hypocrite? What are you doing to change it? ⁣ ⁣ ⁣ 🚨𝐈𝐧𝐭𝐞𝐫𝐞𝐬𝐭𝐞𝐝 𝐢𝐧 𝐛𝐞𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐜𝐨𝐚𝐜𝐡𝐞𝐝 𝐢𝐧 𝐬𝐭𝐫𝐞𝐧𝐠𝐭𝐡 𝐬𝐩𝐨𝐫𝐭𝐬? Need a coach looking for self-improvement beyond the gym walls? ⁣ ⁣⁣⁣ Please do not hesitate to shoot me a DM, Email, or Contact me at: ⁣⁣⁣ @FirstCalledStrength ⁣⁣⁣ ⁣⁣⁣ ⁣ ⁣⁣⁣⁣⁣⁣⁣⁣⁣⁣⁣⁣⁣⁣ ⁣⁣⁣⁣⁣⁣⁣⁣⁣⁣⁣⁣⁣⁣ 𝐍𝐞𝐯𝐞𝐫, 𝐍𝐞𝐯𝐞𝐫 𝐐𝐮𝐢𝐭 👊🏻⁣⁣⁣⁣⁣⁣⁣⁣⁣⁣⁣⁣⁣⁣ ⁣⁣⁣⁣⁣⁣⁣⁣⁣⁣⁣⁣⁣⁣ ⁣⁣⁣⁣⁣⁣⁣⁣⁣⁣⁣⁣⁣⁣ ⁣⁣⁣⁣⁣⁣⁣⁣⁣⁣⁣ ⁣⁣⁣⁣⁣⁣⁣⁣⁣⁣⁣⁣⁣⁣ #runningstrongman #drewsgym #firstcalledstrength #firstcalledstrengthandperformance #strongman #prostrongman #stronger #outwork #begreat #ifyoucantyoumust #grit #neverquit #neverneverquit #believeembraceendure #coach #workouts #trainstrongman #startingstrongman #onlinecoach #hypocrite #religion #goodwolf #thinkfastandslow #betteryou #whoami #whoareyou #character #abs #beard #deadlifts

One Year Today marks one year of @mistermightymilo “Gotcha Day”. What a year! Traveling in the car and planes. Parks, treats, and toys. Snuggles, making new friends, and giving me the eye. Moving equipment, fixing things, and all life’s stress. Little guy has been through it all. Little did Milo know he was going not only be my best friend and adventure buddy but also my ASD (anti-su!c!de dog) as I think of it. Nothing like adding friction via a living being that needs you and misses you. But this is Milo’s day. From skinny, scared, likely to bite to the thickest, bestest, most outgoing boy. Love you Milo. ❤️

Measuring “difficulty” in a session If strongman has taught me anything, it’s that training for strongman can be a major pain in the butt. Aka it’s a hassle or difficult. This difficulty comes from more than just load on the implement but logistical factors around set up, access of equipment, need for spotters, or even weather. To work around this, I loosely filter my decision making through the lens of the athlete and rank movements on a “Goldilocks” scale of 1 to 3. (And just like a pain score, it’s relative to the athlete). This plays in with programming to reduce unnecessary difficulty. So if I have an athlete who needs to wrap knees, get spotters, and hit a heavy top set (a 3 for most) that might not be the session to also drag out stones and get messy with tacky (also a 3). Or to start off with sandbag toss with ascending weights when they only have one bag when drills or sub-maximal drills/work could be done with one bag (a 2-3 reduced to 1-2). This filters down to accessory work. An accessory that needs more warm up sets and acclimation to movement pattern is going to rank higher than a bodyweight movement they can just go after (think pull ups vs barbell rows for simplicity). For everything that gets more complex, something else has to get more simple. French contrast at start of session? Straight hypertrophy sets at end. Multi-part strongman medley mid-session? Simple stability or machine biased accessories. Hassle or difficulty is a stressor just as much as loading, time under tension, or proximity to failure. And like stress, each athlete has a unique tolerance. Count the “difficulty” or hassle score session to session and see if some days you are just asking for too much. 🚨𝐃𝐌 𝐟𝐨𝐫 𝐂𝐨𝐚𝐜𝐡𝐢𝐧𝐠 Private In-Person Sessions Available @firstcalledstrength

Clip from "Dynamic Effort for Strongman" from the @firstcalledstrength youtube channel Learning how to best adapt powerlifting bias dynamic effort principles into the greater strongman training plan. Full video: /watch?v=SPXtEKAbQMg

“Holding Overhead” If you are straining to hold something locked out overhead that is not a good sign. Ideally, the joints should be stacked and force directly downward so supporting the load is relatively easier than pressing it. 🚨𝐃𝐌 𝐟𝐨𝐫 𝐂𝐨𝐚𝐜𝐡𝐢𝐧𝐠 Private In-Person Sessions Available @firstcalledstrength

🤦🏼‍♂️Never assume…(More below) Adding chains for accommodating resistance is somewhat common but often never instructed on how. For most applications, at the top of the movement a few links of the chains should still have contact with the ground. At the bottom, not all the chains should be on the ground if possible. Asking, “how many chains” usually refers to the number of lengths of chains attached to the bar per side, not individual links. Chains often come in 5-6ft sections doubled up and hung from a smaller chain to allow adjustment based on height. Chains can vary in weight by the size of the link. While programming and intent may vary, you likely only need chains that are up to ~20% of the max of the movement you are using them on. 🚨𝐃𝐌 𝐟𝐨𝐫 𝐂𝐨𝐚𝐜𝐡𝐢𝐧𝐠 Private In-Person Sessions Available @firstcalledstrength

“But do I have to warm up” Unlike many, I do not necessarily see general warm ups as necessary…as you can train with minimal warm ups outside of adding more weight to the first movement. And by can, I mean you can if you feel your body is able to get into ranges, cue correct motor patterns and sequencing, nervous system feels “on”, have no on going rehab to fit in, etc. But let’s face it…few can honestly say they can perfectly check all of those every time. A warm up can better be seen as the high priority block. Most energy. Most motivation. For some, this can be leveraged to insure advanced rehab is done and not skipped. For others that primers are put in to maximize the main movements. However, for some, a long warm up is a waste of that valuable mental and physical energy, wavering their focus on the higher stimulating main movement. There is no “perfect warm up”. Do what you need to perform your best. 🚨𝐃𝐌 𝐟𝐨𝐫 𝐂𝐨𝐚𝐜𝐡𝐢𝐧𝐠 Private In-Person Sessions Available @firstcalledstrength

Strongman Exercise Index: Rope Lat Pulldowns Common idea with rope style grips on pulling movement for grip. Careful to note: ▪️the dynamic nature with the “catch” on eccentric ▪️pulling to left side (I only train contest specific on right, dominant side) ▪️timed work to keep grip demand tracked ▪️clear body English so as I fatigue I still get grip stimulus 👉🏻 and don’t @ me for calling this “lat”. It doesn’t matter the muscle in strongman 😜 At the end of the day, this was a creative way for me to train a strong event for me, arm-over-arm. Helpful it was minimal set up and easier to recover from for harder events for that day. For some athletes’ ability, this similar timed principle can be used on pull up variations, inverted rows, and dumbbell rows. 🚨𝐃𝐌 𝐟𝐨𝐫 𝐂𝐨𝐚𝐜𝐡𝐢𝐧𝐠 Private In-Person Sessions Available @firstcalledstrength

🤦🏼‍♂️ “Facepulls 3x15” I love facepulls, but I feel they get overused and poorly executed. Too often they are seen as just a rear delt movement when they can be so much more. I personally like them biased to external rotation to act as a loaded wallslide of sorts. Like most movements, chest support & stability, unilateral variations, and tempo can be leveraged. They can be pushed as hard as a barbell row even. But all that said, they are very convenient to do with a band, especially in contest warm ups. 🚨𝐃𝐌 𝐟𝐨𝐫 𝐂𝐨𝐚𝐜𝐡𝐢𝐧𝐠 Private In-Person Sessions Available @firstcalledstrength

Just your reminder to move around the day before a contest. While rehydrating and replenishing is key post cut, there should always be a maintenance level of activity. At minimum I would recommend 40-50% of your daily steps and a light warm up similar to an event training day. 🚨𝐃𝐌 𝐟𝐨𝐫 𝐂𝐨𝐚𝐜𝐡𝐢𝐧𝐠 Private In-Person Sessions Available @firstcalledstrength