T Nation

Suggestions for First Strongman Contest

Powerlifting
#1

Hi all, I have decided to enter my first strongman contest. The events are:
Farmers walk, truck drag (torso harness,face away from vehicle and pull), Tire flip, Keg carry (3 kegs transport them each for 30m), and car pull up a ramp(rowing motion)

I have the equipment to practice grip strength, farmer’s walks, tire flips and keg carries. But the vehicle drag and pull i don’t relaly know how to prepare for and what technique to use… any experienced competitors can help me out, or direct me to good web resources?! thanks! BTW i have 5 weeks to prepare:)

Best regards
Jonathan Wong

#2

I’m a fellow noob to strongman stuff, but luckily I have access to someone that has ordered most of the training equipment and read uncountable training manuals. So with that disclaimer, here are my suggestions.

Ironmind sells a great harness for pulling stuff around. I have used it for pulling an F150 around and it is difficult but fun. You can also look at how it is constructed and try to make a homemade version if cost and time is an issue.

For pulling the truck with the rowing motion, just go get a super thick-arsed rope and attach it to a vehicle and start pulling it towards you. That way it will continue to work your grip (due to thickness of the rope) and help you get used to the motion.

Regards,

Sensless

#3

Of course, the best way to prepare for events is to do them. However, you can mimic to some degree pulling a car toward you by using a low-cable row at the gym and doing alternating one handed rows.

#4

Thanks for all the replies so far. One question about the car pulling event, what is the best technique to pull? or can somebody direct me to a vid with some good pulling technique. thanks!

#5

www.elitefts.com sells a DVD that covers strongman training. It used to be two seperate tapes, but you get it on one DVD for a pretty good price.

#6

[quote]CaptnJ wrote:
Thanks for all the replies so far. One question about the car pulling event, what is the best technique to pull? or can somebody direct me to a vid with some good pulling technique. thanks![/quote]

If you can get a hold of old World’s Strongest Man contests you can check out various competitors form plus commentary by the announcers (Kaz!) on how they’re doing.

#7

[quote]CaptnJ wrote:
Thanks for all the replies so far. One question about the car pulling event, what is the best technique to pull? or can somebody direct me to a vid with some good pulling technique. thanks![/quote]

You wont do much “rowing” if rowing means pulling the rope into your abs. What you do is lean forward, reach out and grab the rope with both hands (one behind the other) and to pull or “row” you lean back as far and as hard as possible. There will be some flexing at the elbows but not a lot or at least it wont contribute too much to the movement. The low back, glutes and hams do the brunt of the work. When you are leaning as far back as possible (like in a crunch position), you sit forward and grab the rope again as far in front of you as possible and lean back again the pull (and lean back).

#8

thanks derek that technique makes sense:)

#9

[quote]flabtoslab wrote:
www.elitefts.com sells a DVD that covers strongman training. It used to be two seperate tapes, but you get it on one DVD for a pretty good price.[/quote]

I just got that this past Christmas. The DVD is put together very well, and describes 6 events (farmer’s walk, super yoke, tire flip, log press, atlas stones, and sled dragging). It gives great technical advice about their performance, but doesn’t have any specifc recommendations regarding sets/reps, or program design and frequency. That’s the only thing it really lacked.

Overall, I’d say it’s probably worth picking up, for the technique pointers alone.

#10

Check out the articles at totalperformancesports.com( They’re the guys that put out that DVD.)

The one titled “Strongman Training Tips and Advice part 1 & 2” gets into some gym work to contest prep transition stuff.