Kalle Beck Dallas Europa Strongman recap

I have got a ton of people asking me about this so I will include it.Honestly how much you weigh doesn’t mean as much as people give it credit. We are not doing max lifts. If you are not fast, efficient and with good conditioning it means nothing in the end. I eat very clean and the lowest I can get my body to go without feeling like complete shit is about 185 so I cut weight.

A week out I was about 186 morning weight I upped my carbs and sodium A LOT for 3 days and got up to 191. I then water loaded. I cut down on carbs and limited sodium as best I could. I eat no grains as they do me no good FYI.

Sunday 3 gallons distilled water
Monday 2 gallons distilled water
Tuesday 1.5 gallons
Wednesday MORNING 1/2 gallon distilled water with 4 lemons
Frequent bathroom breaks, ate some eggs for breakfast, some chicken and almonds at 12:00PM

wait…..

took a HOT epsom salt bath Wednesday night for 20 minutes which dropped me to 179 if i remember right. Of course TSA inspected my epsom salts and tapped them back up but my suitcase was full of salt anyways…

I was about 1.8lbs over 2.5 hours before weigh ins so I took another epsom salt bath and sat in the steamy bathroom for a bit and hit 175.6 the cut off is 175.4 so it was time to wait. I think it is important to give your body time to cool back down before making weight and having to try to re-hydrate and feel like a human being again.

at 4PM (Dallas time) I hit 175 on the dot, I then drank 1 pack of powdered pediylte 1 scoop of GHR nutrition SECOND WIND and 2 scoops of esp nutrition BCAA mix Power Thru.

I’d do this then straight water 20oz at a time back and forth pretty much all night. Within an hour of weigh ins I had an AMAZING 20″ sandwich. I should have split it up into 4s and ate each every 30 minutes but it was so good and I was so hungry I ate most of it.

The rest of the night and day was snacking on heavy salt, simple carb stuff and tons of water— I drank 1.5 gallons of water before I went to bed.  I left for the comp the next day at 2:30PM and was weighing 192.4, Saturday morning I weighed 194.5.

1st event

Was changed to the axle clean & press 215lbs for reps. I am actually happy with that and it made sense to me.

I was nervous! I haven’t been nervous in awhile. I felt like I kept a good pace  I was fairly cautious on the clean I didn’t want to make a mistake. All the presses flew up. Ended up with 6 reps, Tabor went last and beat me with 7. I could have went after it a little more and got another rep but 6 was good for me and good enough for second place

2nd event

405lb Axle deadlift for reps

It felt light, my grip sucks, especially with slick, fat bars. I couldn’t hold on to a few of the reps at lockout. I ended up with 9th place. Without the drops, I think I had 12 which would have been good enough for 2nd, instead I finished 4th.  In training I am going to make sure to hold my lockouts longer from now on. Day 1 ended in a tie with Tabor for second , 2 points out of 1st place.

Woke up feeling good for day 2, a little tired but my body felt great. Was excited to start the day off right.

Event 3

Circus Dumbbell medley 120×2, 140×2

I was a little confused as to who my judge was and where to look before starting. I should have called time and made sure or something. I hit the first rep with 120 but I thought I heard it wasn’t good. Hit the 2nd, then went for a third and Mike told me to move on, I wasn’t sure if my first rep was good or not and I kind of got all over the place. I rushed my first rep with 140 and couldn’t stabilize the lockout, went and tried to hit it again and it was close but I didn’t hold it long enough and didn’t get the down command. I was very disappointed that I didn’t stay focused and it cost me big. An event I should win, I only managed to finish 4th. Thats why training is training and competing is competing. You prepare yourself the best you can but sometimes things don’t go as you want and you have to adapt, adjust, and overcome. I didn’t and will adjust my training to make sure it never happens again.

Event 4

Yoke walk 620 for 50ft

Felt pretty confident on this. Always been my worst event and I have been putting in work. I picked it up and it felt super light but I had too much swing which made me drop it.  I re-picked fast and finished in 12.33 sec which is still a personal best. 4th or 5th place….. the drop cost me at least 2 seconds the winner did it in about 10.9 I think…..

Event 5

Farmers walk 250 a hand, 50ft

Grip felt solid, I was trying to move as fast as I could. I finished this event in around 12sec. as well. Just not fast enough, winner was either low 10s or high 9s.

Event 6

Suicide Medley all 50ft, 180lb sandbag, 230 keg loaded into a sled. 260 duck walk then drag the sled back.

I flew with the sandbag shouldering it, keg was easy as well. Duck walk: I figured its easier to just shrug it up and carry it on my quads, yay for a strong upper back. This is when i got bit in the ass for improper planning: I had been training the sled drag in a parking lot and rock climbing shoes work amazing for that. Not so much on slick expo floors…..  I realized this and it was pointed out to me earlier in the day but had no alternative. I’ve been doing this too long to make such mistakes. I got it moving and then I hit some chalk patches at the end and couldn’t get it to budge.

I ended up 4th overall. In the end I learned a ton. Any weakness I have was exposed and I know the changes I have to make to not be strong, but to be a better strongman. Sometimes these are two different things. I am so happy and proud at how good all the 175s are getting. I love it and can’t wait to continue to be a part of the rise and evolution of us little guys. I am so happy that NAS/ASC Dione Wessels, Mike Johnston and everyone else are giving us a chance to show what we can do at bigger venues and even providing a world championship at the biggest venue there is. The Arnold Classic.

I can’t wait for nationals, my chance for redemption and to get my ticket to the big show, next March.

Follow along and see the changes I make to improve and achieve my goals

Also want to say I could not be prouder for my bestest friend in the whole wide world, Robert OB Oberst for fighting through a fractured rib on day 1 warming up for the car deadlift. Only to deadlift it for 8 painful reps and get 2 events on day 2 to earn his ASC pro card!! You know this is just the beginning.