see, I’m skeptical about even those because the world record holders aren’t short. hafthor and shaw are two of the absolute best at the event, right? Eddie Hall has the 18" deadlift record.
It just seems like the sheer size of those guys is enough to overcome the mechanical advantages a shorter guy might have.
Shaw and Thor are absolute beasts at every event, haha. But if you look more at the national level vs worlds the difference becomes more clear. And Dimitar is good proof of concept on the dumbbell.
I considered dimitar. I suppose he’s a good example on circus db, I just don’t know if he’s the exception or if Shaw and Thor are. I’m sure I’m using sample sizes that are too small. I’m kind of just racking my brain trying to think of all the excellent circus db pressers I’ve seen in person.
I think those guys just have way more mass than the rest of us. Like you guys have said, mass moves mass. But if you look at the weight classes in which you’re competing do you see many 6’5" guys? Tall at 200ish lbs usually doesn’t do well compared to a shorter guy at the same weight. Flip, I know damn well that we’re nowhere close in strength and I have 20 lbs on you (it’s possible that I just suck, too).
I know that the taller guy has the potential to add more muscle mass but until he does, he’s just tall and mechanically worse… right?
Going back to the very first post…
This reminds me of a favorite trick: watching NFL games and realizing how big even the guys that look “small” are. NFL running backs are like 5’11" and 220 pounds, and they end up looking slender and small because they’re standing next to OL’s that are 6’7" and 320 pounds.
For a while, I thought Eddie was like 6’ even or shorter because I was so used to seeing him next to giants like Thor and Shaw that I thought he was relatively short. I had no idea that he was 6’4" until I looked it up.
“All things equal, bigger is better” In the past few decades, we’ve equated strength with lifting weights, dominated by shorter athletes, and usually by static lifts(which favors short range of motion and limbs, on average). But all the while, athletic power sports like football, throwers, etc. tend to be pretty tall. Historically, tall athletes could never “lift” as much in the gym as short guys, and were perceived as not being as strong. Far superior athletically on the field more often than not. (if you’ve know any strength coaches, the ‘strongest’ guys, usually determined by bench press, are usually second string players). But in today’s era, the tall guys are gaining weight. They are overcoming their limb lengths with mass… the range of motion is still greater, but the increased mass is making them a match for shorter guys in the static lifts. And with their height, they are far, far more suited for cumbersome objects that are prevalent in Strongman, i.e. stones, various large object carries, they have greater stride length in heavy moving events, etc. If you’re 6’8", you probably need to weigh 400 to be as statically strong as a 6’ 300’b guy… I really think the shift in athletes is due to the new eating habits and massive amount of food.
In strongman it can help. I would rather go up against a 6’ 200lber vs a 5’5. As jacked as that little dude is, he is going to have a hard time on most events.
so, you will never see a good 181 lifter at 6’5, or even at a 198 bodyweight. The best 181 and 198 guys are going to be in the range of 5’7 to 6’1. You can’t be super tall, because you can’t carry enough muscle, and you can’t be too short or else you’re going to suffer in too many events. And sometimes you can be penalized greatly. 1 example off the top of my head from the show I’m doing Saturday. I’m doing a stone series, and the first stone you lift has to go to the highest platform, heavier stone to a lower platform, etc for 5 stones. I will be shouldering my first stone. And I’m about 5’11. A 5’5 jacked dude wouldn’t just suffer here. He’d likely zero, and kill his shot at winning overall. That’s bad. You have to be a height where you can at least complete all events. There ARE shows where being short won’t kill you. but this one would.
At 6’5, you could potentially compete at a national level at like the 242 class. MAYBE 220 if you’re just lean as fuck. But the best 220 guys are rarely taller than 6’3.
Just a few reference points to consider.
Most of the conversation/perspective I’ve been speaking from to this point does indeed ignore the weight classes. I was talking about open competition, the best of the best.
Do you mean the 6’ 200 lb guy would be easier to beat or a better competitor?
That’s what I thought. I’m trying to open up my mind to the potential of tall guys since I am one, but as a 220 lb tall guy my experience has taught me that squats suck LOL I think my wrist is 7" around so I never had the potential to pack on elite competitor weight. But we’ll see what we can do with this frame anyway.
I’m up in Kansas and haven’t found any strongman stuff going on around here. Oklahoma seems to be the closest comps. I’d enjoy training with some of the equipment but I haven’t found any gyms around here that play in that area. We have some phenomenal commercial gyms but not much when it comes to some of the odd stuff like yokes, logs, stones, etc.
I’m nowhere near ready to compete but it’s something that I’d consider down the road if I can manage to pack on some weight.
Damn; teaches me to post after sleeping for only 3 hours, haha. The 6’ guy would be harder to beat; I’d rather go up against a 5’5 guy in terms of he’d be easier to beat.
because they have the highest absolute strength. relative strength doesn’t matter as much (maybe im wrong, i don’t really know much about strong man)
also there is a fair amount of strong men who are like 6’2 etc
and also shorter ones like Elliot Hulse not sure how strong he is
Elliot Hulse isn’t really worth mentioning in the strongman world. As far as I’m aware, the best he ever did was placing in a regional comp. not even sure if he won. I don’t believe he ever even competed on a national stage.
You can find people of literally any height winning small competitions.
I know you’re taller than me, but your wrists are bigger than mine. I think you’re thinking about this wrong.
Also, squats don’t have to suck. Pack on enough muscle and they won’t. Your problem with squats is that you’re tall AND skinnny. That does suck. Eddie Hall is an inch shorter than you and could probably set a world record squat if he wanted to. Don’t sell yourself short, that’s all I’m saying. Obviously we can assume you don’t have record-setting genetics, but you’ve likely got good enough ones to be competitive.
I’ve seen comps in Kansas. I’ve actually been to one lol. Where are you looking? Oklahoma does likely have more though. Go to the USS strongman page and The NAS page to find comps.
Isn’t this the guy that makes his living off telling other people to quit their jobs? Not relevant at all to this discussion or strongman, but an interesting career path nonetheless.
I had to point out and applaud this pun.
When Hulse began his channel, it was all about strongman. It’s just evolved to something entirely different. He’s more akin to, say, Tony Robbins than he is to Brian Alsruhe, now. As far as content goes. I mean, at least he was a competitor. And I used to watch his channel religiously before I had my own success in strongman. I thought what he’d done in the sport was impressive for awhile. I didn’t realize what it did and didn’t mean to ‘qualify for nationals’. At the time, I thought that was like an impossible task, haha.
But I have abs!!! I’m finally realizing this. I think I’ve been delusional the past 10 years. I train by myself at a commercial gym. I’ll notice a few people moving some impressive weights but for the most part I just see average folks doing their own thing. I don’t pay much attention. Getting active on the forum here has made me realize how many people are moving what I consider to be big weights. It’s definitely motivated me but it’s also been a slow and tough reality check. I thought I was… well, not big, but not skinny. I’m beginning to accept that I’m skinny. I now realize that my fear of losing my abs has crippled my growth in the weight room. It sucks thinking that I’ve pissed away so much training time but it’s in the past and time to move forward.
Eddie Hall carries 400 lbs!!! I can’t imagine ever being that heavy. Those are the examples of elite folks. I have to believe they have well-above-average genetics. Eddie set multiple swimming records as an adolescent.
My new mission is to add size but I don’t want to just balloon up like a fat guy so I’m taking a slow and steady approach. Hopefully in a year or two we’ll be discussing how I increased my numbers.
I may not be in my prime but I’m not down and out yet. I have plenty of time to build myself up. The plus side of letting go of abs is that I can open up my diet a bit more without beating myself up about it. It’s all fuel.
I just Googled strongman in Kansas and stumbled around a bit. Thanks for the direction. At the very least I’d be interested in going to an event to see what it’s all about up close and personal. I’m in Wichita (technically the biggest city in Kansas) so you’d think there’d be something close.
It’s just different priorities. You walk around at a level of leanness that I have to try VERY hard to reach, and once I reach it I can’t hold onto for long. You have an accomplishment that others don’t have, and others have one you don’t have, and in both cases it’s simply a result of choices and priorities. I imagine you’ve been happy with having abs up until this point, so I wouldn’t beat yourself up over it. But as you’ve noted; when the priorities change, so does the appearance.
I’m in the process of putting on some weight for a heavier show coming up. Physique is changing in a way I don’t like, but for a reason I want.