First comp. Tips?

[u/Somewhat-Strong]

I’ve never competed in any strength sport, but am planning to compete in three months. Here I practiced sandbag loading and the log press. Any tips?

[u/big_dooley]

That bag is pretty floppy so hard to say, but I generally find sandbag load to be easier with the bag laying hamburger style instead of hot dog style (sorry if that's confusing, basically just rotate the bag 90 degrees so it's longer on the x-axis instead of longer on the y-axis). It becomes necessary with the bigger bags as they're too tall to load hot dog style without taking the bag up to the shoulder

For the log, not much wrong, just a couple small corrections. Hug it tight in the lap and don't let it move at all. You're standing up and letting the log away from you just a bit. You want the log to stay with you as you stand. Think of it like a front squat at first, then hit triple extension. Easy tip, wear a belt for log and have the top of the belt sitting at your belly button. Lap the log and have it sit on the little edge of the belt. It helps tremendously in keeping that log connected to you

Going from there, your extension out of the lap is a bit too vertical, more like what you'd want with a barbell. The timing is a bit different for log, the hips should come through just a bit before the ankles. This will have your torso leaning backwards and give the log a surface to roll on

Let me know if this makes sense. MST Systems has a great 4-part log tutorial on YouTube