I weight in at 150lbs. I’m wondering if I’d even be able to compete for fun in the lightweight division.
I found this Interview With Light Weight Strongman Paul Neuhaus but it says the “lightweight” is >231 lbs.
As a martial artist I’m use to lightweight division being around 150-170lbs.
Does strongman exist at the 150lb range and if so what type of weight tires, logs, stones, and other events do they do?
Lightweight strongman classes are usually <90kg or under <105kg. Here are the events and weights for the Englands strongest man qualifier to give you an idea of what you’ll be up against. It was an under 90kg comp:
[quote]Event rules
1: Pendulum press 90kgs
The athlete will start grasping the bar with the equipment on the floor. Upon the refereeâ??s command, the athlete will begin lifting the equipment. The athlete will press the equipment above his head until the elbows are locked. The equipment must be held in position until the referee acknowledges the lift. Than the athlete may lower the equipment to his chest are floor and the lift repeated as many times as possible in the given time period of 60 seconds.
Weight: 90 kilos
Time limit: 60 seconds
2: axle dead lift 180kgs
The athlete will be grasped the bar dead lift style. The athlete will commence lifting on refereeâ??s signal. Athletes must stand erect with legs straight and back extended in an upright position with shoulders locked back. The bar can only be returned to the start position on the refereeâ??s signal (good lift). This sequence is to be repeated as many times as possible in the space of 60 seconds. The person lifting the most number of reps wins.
Weight: 180kilos
Time limit: 60 seconds
3: farmers walk distance
Each competitor will carry two cylinders (90 kilos each) over a 50 metre course. This event will be decided on the longest distance covered. Once the referee sees the cylinders touch the ground the athletes attempt is over.
Wight of equipment: 90kgs each cylinder
Time limit: none
4: super yoke 250kg
On a given signal, the athlete will stand up with the 250kg yoke and carry the yoke over the 30m course (each length of course is 15m). The yoke must be carried all the way over the finish line to complete the course. The fastest time will decide the winner of this event.
Time limit: none
Starts weight: 250 kilos
5: loading 100kg stone for reps
Each competitor will lift the 100kilo stone over the wall (4â??6â??) as many times as he can in 60 seconds, the use of adhesive substance on the hands is permitted on this event. The man with the most stones counted over the wall within the 60 second time period wins.
Weight: 100 kilos
Time limit: 60 seconds[/quote]
If you really want to give it a try then I say gain as much weight as you can afford to for your martial art and try and get strong as hell for your bodyweight. If you can, try and train some events to get an idea of how far you need to come to be strong enough to participate.
[quote]ryan.Scott wrote:
I weight in at 150lbs. I’m wondering if I’d even be able to compete for fun in the lightweight division.
I found this Interview With Light Weight Strongman Paul Neuhaus but it says the “lightweight” is >231 lbs.
As a martial artist I’m use to lightweight division being around 150-170lbs.
Does strongman exist at the 150lb range and if so what type of weight tires, logs, stones, and other events do they do?[/quote]
The LW division (Under 231.5 lbs) does have subcategories:
LW Open / 231.5 lbs Class
<200 lbs Class
<175 lbs Class
Generally you will see these weight divisions at most larger (regional) contests, and sometimes at smaller events although they tend to consolidate to make things easier.
There are national championships for all weight classes including 175, 200, and 231.
In terms of being able to handle the weights, depending on your strength levels it is still possible to train with strongman implements and perhaps even compete at 150 lbs - I have seen a few guys out there at that size previously.
If you are just looking for a sport to give you a chance to push yourself and to try something new for training then it would be a great idea. If you are looking for a sport where you will be dominant then you may want to look to something with a different weight class breakdown (such as powerlifting).
Strongman is a lot of fun even if you are not competing.
Thanks for the replies. I don’t mind putting on some weight since it won’t be fat or anything but 50lbs is a lot of weight. Good to know there are these somewhat smaller classes I could try and aim for.
Ryan,
The strongman federation for the United States is called North American Strongman. On their website you can find all of the information about upcoming events: www.nastrongmaninc.com
Just because you compete in a weight class does not mean that you have to weigh that much either. I recently competed in the SHW Weight Class (300+ lbs) weighing only 215 lbs.
I would look for a local event that offers a 175 lbs class, preferably one where the weights are adjusted from the open LW weights.
Hope this helps - let me know if you have any questions regarding training, events, diet, etc.
I just dropped to ~175 from 205 and I remain competive. There are some contests with a 200lb weight class, and I’m usually at the top in these contests, and others with a 231lb weight class, and even in these I’m competitive. Strongman isn’t based on weight, it’s based on weight moved.
I will say that losing that weight, while I kept my strength, totally fucked up my stone loading because I don’t have a belly to wedge.
There is an athlete in New Jersey who I used to train with and he weights between 175-185 lbs yet is an outstanding 200 lbs class competitor who is probably top 3 in the nation when healthy. He is also a great athlete and typically wins because he has many of the important tools in strongman - grip strength, technique, and conditioning.
One guy named Max used to compete at around 150 lbs and was able to complete most of the events. He posts a lot on Youtube but haven’t heard much from him lately.
I would say to give it a try and see what you can do. Worst case you decide that it is just something to include in your training once in a while to mix things up or you can come back to the sport later once you have more time in the gym. When I first started training I was 150-155 lbs and now years later walk around comfortably at 225 lbs (same height, unfortunately).
Thanks I guess its just slightly daunting where I’m currently at in my training but I want to push myself to get to the point I can try to enter. I found a website with some listings and looks like Novice might be a good place to start but those numbers are well out of my range at this point. I’m currently deadlifting 250 but I only really started lifting about 5 months ago and deadlifting about 3 weeks ago. I’m not sure how it will work because I’m planning on applying to be an Officer in the Marine Corps but if possible I’m hoping to continue training and maybe enter my first novice competition late next year, think I can make it to those numbers if I push myself - and that is what its all about.
[quote]Shakes wrote:
Ryan,
…
Just because you compete in a weight class does not mean that you have to weigh that much either. I recently competed in the SHW Weight Class (300+ lbs) weighing only 215 lbs.
…
[/quote]
Just curious why would you compete so far out of your weight? and how’d you do up against the SHWs?
I competed as a lightweight (less than 231 lb) category. I weighed 171. It was a small local competition. I was competitive at that weight.
However, even if I hadn’t been competitive, I would have competed anyway. It was a lot of fun. Training for the event also gave me a lot of focus during my workouts.