Strong man competitions?

[turboskull1]

Anyone in here ever compete in a strongman style competition? What did you change about your lifting and eating habits? My local gym is planning on a strongman style competition, but will not have any of the equipment to train with until 8 weeks or so from the meet. Is this enough time to train and be somewhat competitive if all of my training has beem focused more on powerlifting and olympic style lifts, or should I just sit this one out?

[jdgregory84]

Having watched a lot of strongman competitions, their diets are pretty much a free-for-all as long as there is a LOT of protein in the diet. Strongman is based on olympic style lifts. Your local gym is planning this, so you're gonna get local people. Good luck.

[Ruffdaddy]

The strongman competitions I have seen didn't have any true Olympic lifts...it was always stupid shit like carry this shell of a car here, or lift this large boulder on top of this medium height stick.

Are their multiple styles of strongman?

[turboskull1]

All I know is this competition is going to consist of a farmers walk, overhead or log press of some sort, a weighted sled pull, and possibly bench or deadlift for reps. I know there will be a few more, just not exactly sure what they are called. If anyone's interested it will be in Burleson, at the Burleson Athletic Club, the exact date hasn't been set yet. If anyone is interested shoot me a pm and I'll keep you posted.

[Broncojohnny]

You'll need to work on your grip strength to handle the bizarre shit you will be lifting.

Ironmind.com has a lot of tools just for that sort of thing.

[dville_gt]

You'll need to work on your grip strength to handle the bizarre shit you will be lifting.

Ironmind.com has a lot of tools just for that sort of thing.

x2, grip strength in these competitions is a big part of it, there are tons of things to do. if your gym has metal plates, see how many 10's you can put face to face and pick up with one hand clamping over the top, if you have a large diameter olympic bar do holds for time (overhand), again if you have metal plates try picking up 45lb plates by just the snout, if you get good at that try picking up a 45lb plate in each hand by just the snout. the list goes on and on and on for grip strength.

[Broncojohnny]

x2, grip strength in these competitions is a big part of it, there are tons of things to do. if your gym has metal plates, see how many 10's you can put face to face and pick up with one hand clamping over the top, if you have a large diameter olympic bar do holds for time (overhand), again if you have metal plates try picking up 45lb plates by just the snout, if you get good at that try picking up a 45lb plate in each hand by just the snout. the list goes on and on and on for grip strength.

Just buy the Captains of Crush grippers (only $20) and squeeze those fuckers, 90% of people I meet can't even halfway close the 140 lb. one, even guys who lift regularly. I can do them over 20 times now and have moved on up to the 195s. No problems with whole hand grip strength after doing those things for a while. You may need to work on individual fingers though.

It makes for a nice handshake too when people think they are going to give your hand a crush. They don't stand a fucking chance it is like shaking hands with a kid.

[turboskull1]

Just buy the Captains of Crush grippers (only $20) and squeeze those fuckers, 90% of people I meet can't even halfway close the 140 lb. one, even guys who lift regularly. I can do them over 20 times now and have moved on up to the 195s. No problems with whole hand grip strength after doing those things for a while. You may need to work on individual fingers though.

It makes for a nice handshake too when people think they are going to give your hand a crush. They don't stand a fucking chance it is like shaking hands with a kid.

Sounds pretty tough, anywhere local you can buy them at? We have a pair of farmers walk bars that I work with once a week, final carry is 220lbs. per side and carry them for 65ft., pause then carry them back. I don't have a clue what a good carry is for a local event, I'm thinking I should be at least 275lbs. per side for 65ft.?

[pr1042]

Just sign up and give it a try. Doesn't sound like it's going to be a full on strongman with stones and other implements. Those who wait to compete until they think they are ready usually never end up doing it.

Deadlift, do farmers walks, work on your overhead pressing. I never saw much improvement from using the grippers. I could barely close the trainer with my left hand and the #1 with my right but I never had any issues with my grip during deadlifts or anything where grip is needed

[Broncojohnny]

Sounds pretty tough, anywhere local you can buy them at? We have a pair of farmers walk bars that I work with once a week, final carry is 220lbs. per side and carry them for 65ft., pause then carry them back. I don't have a clue what a good carry is for a local event, I'm thinking I should be at least 275lbs. per side for 65ft.?

I haven't seen them anywhere local but then again I don't go to that many places that sell equipment, you may look around.

[Cannon]

Eat a LOT of whole grain carbohydrates, preferably two hours before you left and a LOT of red meat! You should be eating every two hours! What is your target weight for the competition? What ever the weight is that should be how many grams of protein you intake in one day. Not the cheap shitty kind you get in fast food burgers. Cook your own foods so you know what type of meat you're eating, etc... You should get(for strength)80-20 ground chuck. The saturated fats in red meats will help your strength gains. Left heavy ALL THE TIME! Do not worry with cardio but do circuit type training with heavy weights. You still need stamina, especially for the strong man lefts. And get at least eight hours of sleep every night. You'll need a lot of rem sleep so your body can produce natural HGH to help in muscle synthesis.

Many gym rats do not know the importance of diet even for strength gain. You can not eat five big-macs and think that's enough fuel to help muscle growth, it's garbage. Remember that diet is 90% and the training is only 10%!!