strongman
 

so, today i was at my college gym doing heavy singles on deadlift and a guy came up to me and told me that he was the president of our school's weightlifting club and that they are going to have a strongman competition in early march. after talking to him for a little while i decided that it sounded like fun and he convinced me to give it a try. the problem is that i have been training with a powerlifting style for about a year (my goal is just to increase my squat, bench, and deadlift and i rarely if ever go above 3 reps on the big three). i have no idea what kind of training i should do for a strongman contest. i have watched some world's strongest man on tv and i know that to compete i'm going to have to do more than just heavy singles. i was wondering if anyone here has any experience doing strongman. i know that a month and a half isn't very long to get ready, but i was looking for a program or any general advice that might help me out when i compete. thanks in advance for any advice that you can give me.

i dont know if this will help at all, but this is what my current training looks like:

Monday - ME squat
squat 1-3rm followed by 2x3-5 with about 50lbs less weight
deadlift - heavy singles
OR
rack pulls 3-5rm
lat pulldowns 3x10
hyperextensions 3x10
leg curls 3x10
heavy weighted abs

Tuesday ME Bench
Bench Press 1-3rm followed by 2x3-5
floor press 3-5rm
OR
pin press 3-5rm
standing military press 3x6-8
js rows 5x5
skull crushers 3x10
ez bar curls 3x10

Thursday DE Squat
speed squats 10x2 (60% 1rm)
good mornings 5rm
straight leg deadlift 3x10
leg curls 3x10
hyperextensions 2x10
heavy weighted abs

Friday DE bench press
speed bench press 8x3 followed by 2x5 (60% 1rm)
close grip bench press 5rm
pull ups 3x8-10
rope tricep extensions 3x10
hammer curls 3x10

Strongman style events almost always rely on grip strength. Without knowing the events that your going to do its hard to say exactly what to focus on. I would focus on grip strength and high rep work. You'll notice many of the strong man event are also rep based (car deadlift, log press etc.)

Moral: Focus your efforts around grip training and high rep push/pull exercises, that should prepare you for the majority of events.

Next time you see him, ask for a list of events, then post what you will be doing, and it will be much easier to help you. I agree with kane, but I wouldnt go too overboard with high rep work, your still going to have to move heavy wieghts, I would say 5-8 rep range would be optimal form what we know right now.

I would like to make some suggestions. Do Farmer's walks and Zetcher *sp* Squats. I know in the events i see the Farmer's walks will work on grip and everything. and the Z squats will help when you have to hold odd objects or the stones. you could also hold DBs like a baby and have someone pile a bunch on you and carry then back an forth. I don't know how to explain it better but it will also help in holding odd objects and stones.

I like the suggestions dave, and its been a little while since I've seen you around, hows things bro?

I will add this though, if its a college club event, chances are there wont be any cool shit like stones, or logs, or any of that. I would guess it will take place in the wieght room, and they will do modified lifts of one kind or another.

I was thinking around 8-10 rep range. But a list of events would definitely take the guess work out. There are some events that rely on a one rep max also. Its too hard to focus advice in the right direction hoping that you guessed the events right :D

ok, so i found out some more information about the meet. it is going to take place outside in a parking lot on campus and the list of the events is:

1) flip and carry medley - flip a tire 4x then run to a set of farmer's handles and carry them for 50 feet
object - fastest time

2) arm over arm pull - from a seated position with feet blocked pull a vehicle from a starting point 80 feet away using hands/arms
object - fastest time

3) overhead circus db - single arm overhead press a loaded db with a 2-3" diameter handle at a preset weight. 1 clean then press for reps, you can set down and switch arms
object - max reps in 60 seconds

4) axle deadlift for reps - 2" diameter axle with pre-set weight for max reps, no straps
object - max reps in 60 seconds

5) atlas stone load - load a series of 4-5 stones, first 2 onto a 52" platform and remaining stones go onto 48" platforms
object - fastest time

Definitely wanna work on grip strength (key for the car pull as well as deads and tireflip/carry) and rep work with deads and shoulder press, and like dave said hit the zercher squats. Basically what you can do is simulate some of the events in the gym and make that your workout. But I would do it so nobody else notices your doing it, don't want people to know your capability before the events ;)

Glad to see you have what the events are. I thought of another exercise you could do. DB overhead farmers walk. Just do what the description says. Get some heavy DBs Clean once, press over head, and do a couple of laps of a farmers walk. You get a little bit of latic acid burn to help with the stag hold of the DB and the farmers walk. Also, if you wanted to add, lets say after walking ever 30 or so feet you try and do 8-15 DB shoulder presses. Just an added twist. Keep us informed. I def. want to here what happeneds.