Unconventional Strength: The Art of Lifting Weird Things
Of all of the disciplines in weight training, Strongman is arguably the most flashy, interesting, fun, and challenging of them all.
That is not meant to disparage powerlifting, olympic lifting, or any other form of physical fitness. The strength, coordination, and technique involved with such power sports make them invaluable tools when building programs and cultivating strength. However They fall short in regards to their “fun factor”. Olympic & Powerlifting is all about the precision of the lift and reaching new maximum strength output, whereas strongman is all about what kinds of bizarre crap you can heave over a bar or toss into the air.
Strongman takes the insane weights being lifted by powerlifters and begs the question “I think a car weighs about that much. Why not lift a car?”.
Rather than hoisting up a barbell with evenly distributed weight and spotters and equipment, Strongmen just find the biggest rock they can and lift it over their heads. They take an empty keg, fill it with sand, and toss it over a bar 20 feet in the air. Even at times chaining themselves to trucks and cars to drag enormous weight, because f*ck it, why not?
So why would we bother adding the art of lifting weird objects into our workouts? Is there any real benefit or is it all just for show?
Truthfully you don’t NEED strongman training. Lifting in general is enough to get results. However just lifting weights gets boring in a hurry and people don’t do things voluntarily when they are exceptionally boring. Strongman brings the flash and the fun back into the gym. When you step into the gym and military press a 100 pound keg you don’t think about the lift itself, you just feel like a beast.
However a case can be made for the incorporation of certain exercises based on their practicality and overall effectiveness in programming. For example, If its leg day and I have to work calves the notion of doing calf raises all day is kind of mind numbing. However a fun alternative would be to pick up a heavy stone, sandbag, or keg and go for a nice long walk. Farmers carry is a dynamite tool for building calves, core, and overall athleticism and when combined with the fun factor of strongman it becomes a much more palatable option.
A similar argument can be made for log press in comparison to the military press or overhead press. Both fundamentally work the same muscle groups, the only difference is in what is being pressed overhead. in going from a bar to an axle or a log we suddenly change the dynamic and form of the exercise. Suddenly the same old same old gets a fun new spin. But whats next? Stones? Sandbags? Tires?
The options are endless.
Now I’ve talked before about the importance of asymmetry in training. Life is very rarely evenly weighted. Sandbags, natural stones, kegs, and most other Strongman tools are strangely shaped and hard to lift, much like most things you’ll have to lift in life. Why not train the way you work? If your job is to lift heavy unevenly weighted objects, then it only makes sense to incorporate unevenly weighted objects into your training. This may sound simple but its a principle people often miss.
Most trainers, myself included, like to believe that all training is “functional” training, because strength transfers over regardless. Just because you lay down to perform a bench press it doesn’t make that exercise less applicable to your daily life. However in regards to strongman training it can all be considered practical. The art of moving stuff what could be more practical?
What’s even more beautiful about strongman is that it has a very low cost of entry. Sandbags are cheap and easy to make, Stones are everywhere, Kegs are hard to come by but invaluable and rugged. Strongman training leaves very little room for excuses. So go Hit the hardware store, grab some supplies and get to work.
Get After It.
God Bless.
