At first, the idea of strongman training seems pretty straightforward. You just have to be strong, right?
Not exactly.
The sport of strongman training requires many skills beyond just lifting heavy weights. You must also be powerful, coordinated, and able to execute highly specific movements.
This guide breaks down the basics of strongman training that anyone interested in the sport ought to know.
What Is Strongman Training?
Officially known as Strength Athletics, strongman training is a sport that tests one’s strength in non-traditional ways.
Strength Athletics shares some similarities with sports like powerlifting and Olympic weightlifting. However, strongman also involves many unique strength and endurance-related activities — like lifting atlas stones and flipping tyres.
What Are the Benefits of Strongman Training?
Why would someone want to flip tyres or carry a refrigerator? One reason is that strongman training offers benefits that other strength sports don’t.
Here are some of the top reasons to give strongman training a try:
Improved Functional Strength
During strongman workouts and competitions, you’ll use various awkward and oddly placed objects — the kinds of things you might come across in real life.
Because you practice working with these objects during training sessions, they’ll be easier to work with when you encounter similar challenges in your day to day life.
Improved Grip Strength
Strongman training is incredible for those who want to increase their grip strength.
Many strongman exercises involve holding heavy objects and walking while carrying them.
These exercises strengthen the muscles in your hands and forearms, making it easier for you to carry everyday objects and helping you perform other, more conventional exercises (like kettlebell swings).
Increased Muscle Mass
In addition to helping you get stronger, strongman training can also help you build more muscle.
Strongman training involves progressively overloading the muscles, placing a safe amount of wear and tear on them so they can be rebuilt and become stronger. Because it involves heavy lifting, it can also trigger the release of growth hormone, which encourages muscle growth.
Faster Fat Burning
Many people are surprised to learn that strongman training can help them burn fat, too.
Several strongman exercises increase your heart rate and cause your body to burn more calories. Furthermore, gaining muscle mass boosts your metabolism and helps you burn more calories while training and resting.
Reduced Injury Risk
When you first watch a strongman training session or competition, it’s easy to assume that this type of exercise is full of opportunities to get hurt.
Of course, you need to be cautious when lifting heavy objects above your head or dragging them behind you.
But when you work with an experienced trainer and master the basics, you’ll find that you’re stronger, more coordinated, and less injury prone than you were previously.
Fewer Plateaus
Strongman training continuously pushes you to challenge yourself and step outside your comfort zone. It sets you up for ongoing progress and gives you the tools you need to smash through plateaus faster.
Multi-Sport Crossover
When they start strongman training, people often find that their performance in other sports and workout modalities improves. For example, they can perform powerlifting exercises more easily or have more endurance during cardiovascular workouts.
Examples of Strongman Training Exercises
Strongman athletes perform a wide range of exercises during training sessions and competitions. Here are six examples of commonly performed movements:
1. Keg Run/Keg Toss
As the name suggests, these exercises involve picking up a keg and running with it or tossing it as high and far as possible.
The keg weight varies depending on your level. Beginners may run with and toss an empty keg, while more seasoned athletes use ones that weigh over 50 pounds.
2. Log Press
The log press involves a unique bar shaped like a log with cutouts and handles for you to grip. This full-body exercise challenges many muscles in the body and requires strength in the legs, back, shoulders, and arms.
3. Deadlift Hold
You’re likely familiar with the deadlift if you’ve spent time doing bodybuilding or powerlifting workouts. Strongman training involves deadlifts, too, as well as deadlift holds, which involve holding the bar at the top of the exercise to challenge your grip strength.
4. Atlas Stones
The Atlas stones event in strongman competition involves five heavy, sphere-shaped stones.
The athlete must first pick up each of these stones from the ground. Then, they lift them onto elevated platforms as quickly as possible.
This event usually takes place at the end of a competition.
5. Tyre/Car Flip
This exercise involves flipping a massive tyre or, in the case of more advanced athletes, flipping an entire car. It challenges various muscles, including the legs, glutes, back, and shoulders.
6. Sled Push/Pull
Many strongman exercises involve pushing or pulling a heavy sled. These exercises increase endurance and activate muscles throughout the body, including the legs, core, chest, and arms.
How to Get Started
Don’t worry — your first strongman training session won’t involve flipping a car or carrying a keg. You’ll work your way up to those movements over time.
Most strongman beginners start with simple movements (performed with lighter weights) that mimic those performed in a strongman competition. The following are some potential exercises beginners might be asked to do:
Carrying Exercises
To work your way up to keg runs and Atlas stones, you may start with more traditional carrying exercises, such as farmer’s carries. This exercise involves walking while carrying a dumbbell or kettlebell in each hand.
Deadlift Variations
The basic deadlift movement is involved in many strongman exercises, such as tyre flips and log presses. Before you can perform these exercises, you’ll need to master the deadlift and its variations.
Pressing Exercises
Strongman training involves a lot of overhead movements, too. Pressing exercises like push presses, strict presses, and single-arm presses help you prepare for more complicated exercises like log presses.
Try Strongman Training Today
Are you ready to become a strongman and enjoy all the benefits of strength athletics training?
If so, In2Performance offers multiple membership options to help you learn the basics, develop your skills, and achieve your fitness goals.
Our built-for-purpose facility covers over 5000m2 featuring industry-leading equipment, 24/7 staffing, and incredible amenities.
If you want to train like an elite with world-class coaches, programs and equipment – Join today for just $26.50 per week!
