There were a few key moments in the weekends strongman competition where people could have made better choices and had a better results for the day on certain events AND overall on the leaders board. We are talking about the difference between being on the winner’s podium and, in some cases an invite to Arnold Strongman Australia.
I’m writing this piece as a coach and observer to express my opinions and where I feel people could learn and grow as competitors. I was VERY impressed with the level of competition across the board and especially considering so many of them are relatively new to strongman competition. It gives me great joy to see how far we have come in recent years and there is no sign of things slowing down.
COMPETITION MAKES YOU BETTER
- Strongman is a head to head competition. In the case of the weekends comp there was a second score card which allowed competitors to attempt records as a side goal. In the most competitive field, the Mens U90s almost all competitors chose to beat each other rather than just set a record. It was a competition of seconds and centimeters and came down to the final event for the win with only 3 points separating the top 3. Very close competition. It was close because they all wanted to win by beating one another not just set records. Aside from the big lifts this was the highlight of the day for me and sets the standard high for the upcoming Arnolds.
BE TACTICAL WITH YOUR CHOICES
- Don’t open on your max lift when you have 3 attempts. Maybe I’m biased because of my powerlifting experience but it just doesn’t make sense to me. You have 3 attempts so make everyone count. 1st attempt should be your last warm up, get a number on the board, 2nd attempt at 95%-105% max depending on how good the opener was then on your 3rd go for broke. There were a few occasions on the weekend where I saw someone lose points by going for a PR on the second attempt rather than getting in the lead and going from there. Food for thought.
CONSISTENCY IS KEY
- I am big on this and it shows time and time again in competition that the most consistent competitor will win the day overall. Strongman is a challenging sport that requires you to be good many different and times contradicting qualities. Being good at such a variety of events is tough but that what’s makes it all the more rewarding. Use this when you design and focus on your training plans and most importantly bring this winning attitude with you on comp day. We do this for fun. It’s a hobby. However taking it seriously when it matters and winning make it all that little bit more enjoyable 🙂
Signing off
