"Are You a 'Strong Man'? (Strongman Workouts)"

(originally published at MMA Weekly.com)

We’ve all seen strongman competitions on television. Picking up Atlas Stones, pressing Logs overhead, carrying huge Oxygen cylinders, pulling semi-trucks – all events that are commonplace in strongman competitions.

In many ways, professional strongman resembles MMA – especially MMA’s beginnings. It’s a small, lesser-known sport with little media coverage. Though its participants are “professionals” (in that they are paid to compete) and are the best in the world at what they do, it pays very little in comparison to other professional athletic endeavors around the world (though MMAists are now being paid more and more). Very few (if any) strength athletes earn enough (between prize money and sponsorships) to train full-time – most have to work a full-time job and train in their spare time. There used to be one major organization/competition, and that was the World’s Strongest Man (the contests you see sponsored by Met-Rx on ESPN). However, a few years ago, the IFSA was formed and holds its own contest. While the WSM contest features athletes from all over the world, this is the contest that American professional strongmen primarily compete in. IFSA, on the other hand, has a more international influence.

Another striking similarity between strongman and MMA is development in its athletes. When MMA (primarily the UFC) first started, it was a contest between styles – karate vs. boxing vs. wrestling vs. judo vs. jiu-jitsu vs. muay thai, etc. Strongman, on the other hand, started back in the mid-1970s with the WSM. This contest brought athletes from all different arenas to include Olympic lifters, professional football players, bodybuilders, martial artists, track and field throwers, and more. Since their beginnings, athletes from both sports have drifted away from their specific influence(s) to be well-rounded athletes that, while they may have their own specializations within their given sport, can do well at anything.

All that aside, let’s take a look at strongman itself. The idea of strongman is to try and test strength (as well as strength-based conditioning) in “odd” ways that not only don’t tend to show up in regular, everyday life, but neither are they in the gym.

For example, instead of pressing a barbell, press giant log that gets in your way, a bar with two giant weights hanging from it (making momentum a giant issue), or a giant block of aluminum. Instead of picking up a barbell or set of dumbbells, pick up a giant round stone with no handles and that is hard to hold onto. Instead of doing squats with a barbell, do squats at the end of a giant lever that barrels (additional weight) are dropped into between reps.

This sort of training is not only good for strongman contests, though. It’s a perfect fit for MMA. Getting good at holding, moving, carrying, or manipulating big, heavy objects at odd angles, in bad positions, and with little to no leverage, grip, or assistance. Think that sort of thing wouldn’t be good for MMA? Damn right it would.

Now, doing strongman training isn’t exactly easy to pull off – especially if you work out in a commercial gym. Not too many gyms I know of (at least the major gym chains, anyway) have a set of Atlas Stones, a steel log, or giant oxygen cylinders for you to carry around.

However, that doesn’t mean you can’t improvise and do some of this training on your own, anyway.

Sandbags are a PERFECT fit for strongman training and conditioning. I’ve written about the benefits of sandbags numerous times, so I won’t repeat myself again. Just know that you can do a ton of exercises with them, they’re cheap and easy to make, shift and move to make lifting it harder, and have been the result of many-a-trainee cussing at the end of my workouts. Hehehe

Still need examples for the sandbag? Ok. You might not have a set of Atlas Stones available (though they’re not as hard to make as you might think), but you can bear hug your sandbag and carry it around. Replicate the event of loading barrels with your sandbag. If nothing else, shoulder the sandbag, sprint 20 yards, and drop. Shoulder it again, and sprint back. Repeat until you die or pass out (whichever comes first).

How about the oxygen cylinders that these guys pick up and carry? This is called a Farmer’s Walk. You probably don’t have the tanks sitting around, but you can pick up a pair of heavy DBs at the gym and take them for a walk.

If you live in or near the woods, you can easily replicate the Fingal Fingers event. Fingal Fingers is the one with the giant steel cylinders that are hinged at one end to the ground. The athlete stands at one end, picks it up to his shoulders, and than levers it up hand-over-hand until the “finger” gets upright and eventually topples over the other direction. Want to replicate this? Cut a decent sized tree down (something maybe 1-2 feet in diameter) and cut it into a good 10-15 foot section. Flip back and forth.

How about the event where they’re wearing the harness and towing a giant bus or train? This one is easy – head to an empty parking lot or street with little traffic and push your car around.

I think if you can find a way to work some of this style of training into your workouts, you’ll be amazed at the benefits you’ll get.

Train Hard, Rest Hard, Play Hard.