My Gym is Recruiting Strongman

[Firehawk]

In about 8 weeks I believe, we are going to put on a strongman competition. This will be the first one. We have very limited equipment so I think others are going to either borrow ours, or we are buying a bunch of stuff (used and new) before the competition.

My gym is really starting to get into this, as well as continue with powerlifting. I am pretty excited about it. It's something new, and hopefully in the long run will make me alot stronger.

We are planning to get alot of new members in and hopefully this draws in new excitement. We just moved to a place double the size and things are happening.

[gymgirl]

that's great firehawk! have fun!

[trainerty]

Sorry...I wouldn't come out until you get a ab blaster 2000, 3.14 e-z curl bar and a hool-a-hoop. Just screwing withya'

Good move with the competition...hopefully that gets you a good edge to pull some serious business.

[Firehawk]

I think strongman is taking over. It's smart to go this route.

Originally Posted by Firehawk

I think strongman is taking over. It's smart to go this route.

Sure beats the pants off of powerlifting!!!

Doh, did I write that out loud???

[Dan C]

I think that move will round off the "hardcoreness" of your gym. It will be an interesting turn of events and I'm sure we'll be seeing some heavy hitters coming out of that area. Do you know what the events/weights are going to be?

Firehawk, coupled with your size and strength, your new found endurance could take you far in strongman. The two biggest weak points I've seen in powerlifters competing in strongman is 1) their endurance and 2) their grip, and the grip can be easily rectified (most powerlifters don't like "cardio" though).

[Firehawk]

The events are the following

Light Heavy Weight Men Tire Flip (600lb)
Heavy Weight Men Tire Flip (700lb)
Women (500lb)
Distance is 80 feet.

Axle clean and press
LWM (200lbs), HWM (240lbs), Women (120lbs)

Farmer's Walk
LWM 225lbs
HWM 265lbs
Women 115lbs
Distance is 180 feet w/1 turn

Arm over arm Truck pull 100feet

Atlas Stones
LWM - 200~335lbs
HWM - 225~360lbs
Women - TBD

Now here's my question, because I don't know anything about these competitions. How is someone like myself supposed to get involved with weight being moved around like that? I wouldn't stand a chance. I don't think i can log press that for 1, i could probably do a couple tire flips with a 700lb tire maybe, just guessing), MAYBE could do the farmers walk for a couple feet lol, doubt I'd get far with the atlas stones. Depending how they do the truck pull, who knows.

Are these weights geared towards huge guys or what? What is the weight range for LWM vs HWM?

The coolest part is the location is not even 1 mile from me, so I'm definitely going to be there watching. I think my cardio would definitely help, and I would have to say i have a big edge on most in my gym as far as conditioning goes, unfortunately strength is another story. I'll also be very intersted to see those competing from my gym (not sure who), and how well they do, see if the powerlifting equipment is helping them more than people think it is. I mean, nobody at my gym currently trains these events at all. Nobody does anything other than accessory work at best with strongman type training, so if anyone from my gym is even entering, I don't know. I think there's a few that would do pretty well though, but mostly guys are out of shape endurance-wise.

Needless to say, it will be interesting.

[Dan C]

Just as you've suggested to people in the past, I'd say just get in there and do it. Don't worry about winning, or even "standing a chance." It will be fun, you'll learn a lot, and you'll get stronger in the process.

Some thoughts:

A 700lb tire might equate to a 400lb deadlift... gotta remember half the tire is still on the ground and it gets easier on the way up. Get familiar with the tire, and know where you're going to put your hands before you even bend down. For instance, I know that my chin needs to line up just to the left of the upper tread on our tire.

Unless you have exceptional grip strength, the hardest part of an axle is usually the clean. If you're allowed to use a mixed grip and continental the bar to your belly before hopping it to your chest and switching your grip, that's one way you can do it. Your best bet is to start training with thick bars immediately. Also, keep in mind that in strongman you can usually jerk or push press and overhead event.

A 265 farmers really isn't that heavy. You'll be able to stand up with far more on the farmers implements than you could on a barbell. The key is gripping it... lots of BB'ers and PL'ers do poorly here because of their grip, but grip is built insanely fast and 8 weeks is plenty of time to get to where you need to be.

Arm over arm I've never done in competition but you can count on bent over rows being a good way to train it. If you've got a rope you can climb that'd be great too!

The stones you just have to keep training if you want to get any good at. Some guys are naturals though. We had a farm boy come over Luke's house and lift one of the heavier stones first try with no tacky. I can't even do it with tacky!

This contest has decent weights though. I think we have the heaviest amateur contests in the nation and our weights for our next contest are...

Log press - 230/280
Farmers & Tire Flip - 300/330 for 55ft & 745 for 5 flips for all
Stones - 260 thru 355 / 270 thru 385
Conans wheel - 600/660
Yoke & Waddle - 710/800 & 350/400 for 55ft each way

I was lucky enough to watch a strongman down in Myrtle Beach last year and it was a great event.

Don't sell yourself short Dave. In the immortal words of Townie from The Water Boy: You can do it!

Dave, did you ever get a chance to try this training?

[Firehawk]

Originally Posted by IronMan

Dave, did you ever get a chance to try this training?

Hey Ironman,

I did start toying around with the Atlas stones and a couple other things, but no competition.

The strongman stuff went on hold for me as of late, becuase i've developed some more problems with my heart. It looks like I'll be going back in for another heart procedure late February or early March. This really sucks.

I'm not having Afib anymore, but I'm having a TON of skipped heartbeats on a daily basis. They really bother me sometimes as well, makes my anxiety roar its ugly head (why I think i have anxiety in the first place).

I had a 24-hour heart monitor done 2 weeks ago and it showed that I am having 9000 PAC's (1 every 10 seconds or so) and 125 PVC's per day. The nurse on the phone told me she's never seen that many PAC's in a 24 hour span (lucky me). SO i'm going to have the same procedure done as before (Ablation) to cure it hopefully. I HOPE this is the last damn time.

But essentially, I don't push myself that hard in the gym because i'm afraid something is going to happen, whether it be a panic attack or with my heart skipping which feels awful.

I really hope that one day I can get to moving those big Atlas stones and doing the truck pull (this looks like the most fun to me).

It really sucks you know, I'm in by far the best shape of my life and I'm still having heart trouble. Don't drink, never smoked, never done any drugs of any sort, I eat right, I work out daily, and lazy fatass Joe Smoker is going to outlive me. It's just not right.

[Dan C]

Sorry to hear that you're still having problems Dave.

Focus on the good.

[Firehawk]

I'm trying Dan. It wears on you over time. Just when you think you're fixed 100%, something goes wrong.

The most disheartening part is I'm in 1000 times better shape than the last time i had the surgery. My cholesterol was 268, I was 300 lbs, and not in cardiovascular shape.

This time I have been jogging, My cholesterol is down to 147, I weigh 236, and I am still having problems.

I don't get it. I eat right, don't drink, don't smoke, don't do any drugs, don't use diet pills, I eat correctly and work out daily, yet some lazy, fat smoking alcholic gets to outlive me and not deal with any of this jazz. Sometimes life isn't fair at all.

[Dan C]

You don't know who is going to outlive who.

And as far as I'm concerned, you've already outLIVED the fat lazy slob alcoholic. How much "living" does he do anyway?

I can't relate to the health problems you're having, but every minute you spend disheartened, everytime you think life is unfair, every second you allow your physical condition negatively effect your psychology, that is that much less time you have to be thankful for all that you have accomplished and that much less time you have to plan for everything else you want to accomplish.

Focus on the good.

I'm privately cheering for your Dave. And I'll include you in my prayers.