That Sound? Rubber Hitting Road.

[Joshua]

Seeing as you have mentioned you will be throwing the boy weights around instead of the women-class weights I would say the women's distances will be useful for you but the best thing early on is to just get out there and throw. The weights will surprise you, but if you get familiar with the mens weights, any time you throw the 16/28 weights you will be that much stronger.

As a recommendation though, I do heartily suggest you try and source the lighter weights for yourself to work on speed. With the heavier weights you will not be able to really work on the skills needed to perfect your throws, because once you've hit your limits on strength, form is what will eventually reap better benefits in the events.

And on the Fiona physique...

There are some of us *ahem* that, you know, would, *ahem* find Fiona attractive if we were also cartoon trolls*.





*Or maybe if we weren't.

[Kinetikat]

Thanks guys!

Alan - yes, really useful information.
I won't be throwing proper Ladies' weights anywhere except maybe one or two Games in the whole season, which kind of sucks, but as Joshua points out, it's still going to be good for me have my own lady-weights to practice with for the sake of being able to work on technique.

I may well be able to persuade the judges on the day to let me throw the 42 rather than the 56 lb over the bar... hope so! Certainly worth asking.

As to the Princess Fiona thing... yes. Yes indeed.

[GoodGirlGonePlaid]

*hangs head in shame*
OMG, I can't even pick up the 56# weight with one hand.

@Alan,
My *new* practice caber (a 4x4 from home Depot) is 12 ft and appx. 40#, I'm glad to hear it's 'bout standard for wmns novice. A few weeks ago I got "caber burn" on my forearm and after it scabbed and healed, it has left me with a uterus-shaped scar. Fitting

[Alan H]

*hangs head in shame*
OMG, I can't even pick up the 56# weight with one hand.

@Alan,
My *new* practice caber (a 4x4 from home Depot) is 12 ft and appx. 40#, I'm glad to hear it's 'bout standard for wmns novice. A few weeks ago I got "caber burn" on my forearm and after it scabbed and healed, it has left me with a uterus-shaped scar. Fitting

Kate Mason is a very nice lass, but she's...well....pretty damn strong. She's also a LOT bigger than you are! LOL Fifty pounds, easy.

Your caber is spot-on. In six months, you'll turn it in your sleep and you'll need a bigger one!

[Alan H]

Thanks guys!

Alan - yes, really useful information.
I won't be throwing proper Ladies' weights anywhere except maybe one or two Games in the whole season, which kind of sucks, but as Joshua points out, it's still going to be good for me have my own lady-weights to practice with for the sake of being able to work on technique.

I may well be able to persuade the judges on the day to let me throw the 42 rather than the 56 lb over the bar... hope so! Certainly worth asking.

As to the Princess Fiona thing... yes. Yes indeed.

This would be a good option, IMHO.

A lot depends on what your goals are. There aren't very many women throwing in Scotland, and I don't know if the general practice is to have them throw the same weights as the men. I know that Kate threw the 56 weight over bar at least twice. You might ask Kate and Adriane on NASGA.

There are a couple of hundred women that throw over here in the USA so if you have your eye on doing any international competition, it makes sense to become conversant with the 28 weight for distance and weight over bar. Also, you can train "hitting the positions" a LOT more with the lighter weights. A lot of throwing is about getting in the power positions and moving smoothly from one to the next. The only way to do that is to practice, practice practice. Doing that with the heavier weights is brutally hard.

Look, I'm not the biggest or strongest badass dude on the block, but when I started this I was 49 years old, in pretty good shape and reasonably strong for a 245 pound guy. I'll tell you right now that I could barely handle the 56 pound weight at all. It's now five years later. I've been weight lifting in the gym pretty regularly for three years. I now weigh just shy of 300 pounds. And now...NOW... after all that, I can actually "throw" the 56 rather than just hanging on for dear life.

Maybe you are the UK Women Powerlifting champion in the 220 pound class, and you're going to eat this thing for breakfast. But if you're just starting out, working out, do NOT beat yourself up if the 56 pounder is just stupid-heavy and you can't do anything with it. You are NOT going to become like Stephen Aitken in six weeks of practice, not unless you are absolutely brutally strong, have been working out for *Years* and have a track and field throwing background.

This stuff is not easy. Please be realistic. However, the other end of "realistic" is the honest truth that if you are up for even TRYING to do this, if you actually WORK at it, then you are a pioneer in your world, and that is AWESOME.

[Kinetikat]

This would be a good option, IMHO.

A lot depends on what your goals are. There aren't very many women throwing in Scotland, and I don't know if the general practice is to have them throw the same weights as the men. I know that Kate threw the 56 weight over bar at least twice. You might ask Kate and Adriane on NASGA.

There are a couple of hundred women that throw over here in the USA so if you have your eye on doing any international competition, it makes sense to become conversant with the 28 weight for distance and weight over bar. Also, you can train "hitting the positions" a LOT more with the lighter weights. A lot of throwing is about getting in the power positions and moving smoothly from one to the next. The only way to do that is to practice, practice practice. Doing that with the heavier weights is brutally hard.

Look, I'm not the biggest or strongest badass dude on the block, but when I started this I was 49 years old, in pretty good shape and reasonably strong for a 245 pound guy. I'll tell you right now that I could barely handle the 56 pound weight at all. It's now five years later. I've been weight lifting in the gym pretty regularly for three years. I now weigh just shy of 300 pounds. And now...NOW... after all that, I can actually "throw" the 56 rather than just hanging on for dear life.

Maybe you are the UK Women Powerlifting champion in the 220 pound class, and you're going to eat this thing for breakfast. But if you're just starting out, working out, do NOT beat yourself up if the 56 pounder is just stupid-heavy and you can't do anything with it. You are NOT going to become like Stephen Aitken in six weeks of practice, not unless you are absolutely brutally strong, have been working out for *Years* and have a track and field throwing background.

This stuff is not easy. Please be realistic. However, the other end of "realistic" is the honest truth that if you are up for even TRYING to do this, if you actually WORK at it, then you are a pioneer in your world, and that is AWESOME.

Pioneer is about right, Alan! I hadn't realised until I actually started ringing Games Convenors in the last couple of weeks just how unusual it is in this country for women to compete in the Heavies. And as a result, how few Games have had Ladies' weights manufactured. LOTS of polite Scottish voices going, "You want to compete in the HEAVY Events? ....Oh. Well, um, we don't have a Ladies' class, but I'm sure it'll be fine if you just turn up on the day and throw with the men... You do realise you'll have to throw the same weights as the men...?"
So, of necessity, I have to go into this summer assuming I'll be throwing the same weights as the guys *sob*. SO looking forward to that. I'll check with Adriane and Kate what the situation was last time they threw here.

Well, God bless you for a big honest brute Alan! LOL I can always count on you to be thoroughly realistic in these forums! I have 8 weeks till my debut weekend with Blackford Games on 26th May and Blair Atholl on 27th. Agreed, coming from a background of pretty much nothing, even Stephen Aitken is going to have his work cut out for him to work the transformation in that amount of time. I'm 47 years old, built uncannily like a Troll Princess, and currently I weigh 182lbs, and am working hard to convert as much of that to muscle as possible in the time available!

Realistically - no, I'm not going to be doing anything awesomely impressive even with Lady Weights. My aim currently is just not to disgrace myself on the field. If I can stick the eight weeks of Sadistic Eddie's Gym and Coaching With The Ogres, I think I have the chance to fulfil that dream!

[Alan H]

To turn a phrase which gets a lot of use here in the States.... Miz 47 year old, 185 pound Troll Princess with the guts to try something new and break through barriers that say ... "Oh women don't DO "that"!!!....

You GO, girl!

[Alan H]

BTW, to make a 28 pound weight....

Find a metalworking shop. They will probably have access to 1018 mild steel rod. This is the least expensive steel rod...you don't need anything fancy for this. You can also use cast iron. You can also use something which is square or hexagonal in cross-section. You'll want something about 4.5 to 5 inches in diameter. Basically, it's a cylinder of solid steel 4/2 to 5 inches across.

You'll want a piece which is about 5 inches long. It's not the length that is important, it's the weight. It will need to be about 26 pounds. Have the shop cut you a piece of rod like this, that weighs about 26 pounds.

Now, have them weld a sturdy loop of smaller diameter rod on one end...the FLAT ends, not the side that's curved. You could have them weld on half a chain link, that works great for a 14-pound weight, pretty well for a 28 pounder.... sort of OK for a 42 but it's hopeless for a 56. (it will break if the weight lands on the weld). However, hopefully you won't be throwing 56'ers, and if you are, you won't have to make them, the Games Committee's will already have them. What they WON'T have is a 28 pounder set up for weight over the bar, and a 14 pounder set up for weight for distance.

Instead of a chain link, the metal guy could also weld on a piece of steel "T" shaped extrusion, maybe a 2-inch piece. Drill a hole in the leg of the "T" that stands up for the shackle pin..

You're going to use a couple of anchor shackles to attach handles. Maximum overall length from one end of the weight to the far end of the handle is 18 inches. It can NOT be longer than that, not even 1/4 of an inch. As a very general rule, weights for weight over bar aren't actually 18 inches long, they're shorter....maybe 12-14 inches long. Really long WOB weights tend to bump on the ground. However, you want your 28 pound or 14 pound weight for distance to be 17-18 inches long. Longer flies farther, it's simple physics. Here are some pictures to show to your metalworker.

Total weight, handle, chain, weight should be between 28 - 28.25 pounds.



That is a weight set up with a ring on a shackle, for weight over the bar. We usually use ring-handles for WOB weights. Some people like ring handles for weights for distance, too....some use D-shaped handles. Here's Adriane Wilson (Blewitt) the current womens world champion. Look closely at the weight. That's a 14 pound weight. It's built exactly like a 28'er, just with a smaller piece of steel.

[Kinetikat]

Ah, thanks again Alan, you're always full of practical tips as well as nice encouragements *Troll Princess blush*.
Re: the weights - if i got a metal workshop to make these up for me, do you think it's possible I'd be able to take my own weight set along to Games and persuade the judges to let me throw my own gear instead of the lads' gear? That's a thought I hadn't had before... 'cos frankly even if I was to throw the full heavyweight mens' gear, what would that prove? I'm gonna come a very long way last as it is, most likely (yes, I know, I've heard better battle-cries too, LOL), so it's hardly going to upset the ranking for SHGA champion 2012, is it? I'll basically be throwing as a one-woman demonstration event anyway, so I might as well push for using my own gear if I can get them to agree to it.

[Alan H]

Ah, thanks again Alan, you're always full of practical tips as well as nice encouragements *Troll Princess blush*.
Re: the weights - if i got a metal workshop to make these up for me, do you think it's possible I'd be able to take my own weight set along to Games and persuade the judges to let me throw my own gear instead of the lads' gear? That's a thought I hadn't had before... 'cos frankly even if I was to throw the full heavyweight mens' gear, what would that prove? I'm gonna come a very long way last as it is, most likely (yes, I know, I've heard better battle-cries too, LOL), so it's hardly going to upset the ranking for SHGA champion 2012, is it? I'll basically be throwing as a one-woman demonstration event anyway, so I might as well push for using my own gear if I can get them to agree to it.

I think this is a great idea. If YOU bring the gear, then the organizers don't have to supply it. It doesn't cost them anything, and all they have to do is weigh it. What would probably help is if you could find 1-2 other lasses who'd show up to throw. Then it feels more like an "organization" to the lads doing the judging and all, and less like one female ..."who ought not be doing this at all".... barging in.

Try it. But if they turn you down, then smile, nod, throw the mens weights, and thank the judges for their time and work anyway. Be a Good Sport, and STICK WITH IT. Don't just throw one year, I would suggest that if you really want to change things, then commit to doing three seasons. Don't be the lass who thinks she's going to throw...works out for a month, throws at two Games and gives up. All that will do is reinforce the idea that "women can't do this" in the Old Boys heads.

Those two things; 1.) good sportsmanship and a good attitude...and 2.) commitment....will buy you a hundred times more respect and consideration than anything else.

Just my two cents...