With the launch of our new strength challenge event series we are attracting a lot of interest from novice lifters and those new to strongman training and competition. While some have experience in other strength sports that provides a level of carry over to Strongman most of the newer trainees we get through the door have little to no idea about how they should be preparing for the event and setting realistic, achievable goals for the day. The strength challenge unlike most competitions allows the lifter to select their attempt weights from a variety of options. This poses a new set of problems for many lifters, which one do I aim for?
I am big on getting the best results possible for comp day, which means sometimes you need to make a tactical decision on an event. In many bigger competitions such as the Arnold Strongman you know well in advance the weights you need to hit for the day. Intelligent programming would see you back track from the day of competition to 8-12 weeks out from the comps and work towards hitting the number for the either max/reps/fastest time depending on the event.
If the competition is 4 weeks away you need to add 20kg to your max log I would say it is very unlikely. If 100kg is your max log and it’s a rep event then aiming to do it for 3-4 reps would be an intelligent programming choice. For the athlete who has a max 20kg off the target weight it might be a wise decision to sit the event out rather than spending 60 seconds fighting to get the weight off the floor and risking injury just for ego’s sake. This would be a tactical decision and at the strength challenge where the lifter can choose the weight targets for every event this should never need to happen.
A Smart Approach To Strongman Training
The reality is most of us have at least one event that is weak or at least comparatively weaker than the others so in a competition setting this may happen. If it does your main focus in the upcoming off season should be rectifying the issue not ignoring it (more on that in another piece). I’ll use one of my current clients as an example for our attempt selection at the upcoming event. I’ll refer to them as client A.
Event 1- Strongman Squat for reps.
Client A had a max squat of 115kg at the beginning of this training cycle and last week hit a very easy 105kg for 3 reps. We have 2 more weeks of practicing this event prior to the comp and if on the last week they do 120kg for 3-5 reps then they will do the 130kg in comp. If they only hit 1-2 reps it’s still a big PR for them this training block and it a realistic target. If not then 115kg for max reps on the day it is. As this was their previous PR 2 or more is a good result. Although in this case I believe they are capable of 5 or more.
Event 2- The Giant DB Press for Max
Client A struggles with overhead pressing. Their best DB so far is 22.5kg on a regular DB. The comp DB weighs 25kg this will be their opening attempt. Over the remaining weeks I believe they can get there so we will open on 25kg and that gives them 3 attempts. Even if they get 25kg DB up in training it will still be the opener to secure numbers on the board.
Event 3- The Viking /static hold
This event is tough. It requires a high pain threshold and an iron will to do well and client A has both in abundance. My recommendation for a hold event is you should at least be able to do 30 seconds to be competitive and pushing a minute is fantastic. We will be picking the heavier of the two options based on this as a target.
Event 4- Max Atlas Stone Load
Stones can be an interesting one especially with Tacky use. Client A is new to SM and as such has been practicing stones without tacky to properly how to position and squeeze the stone. They are also short which makes loading the stone difficult. They have managed 3 reps in training with the 55kg so should be good for a fair bit more with tacky use so attempts will be 55kg-60kg and possibly 70kg depending on the performance on the day. The main issue with this is the height. Loading a stone to neck height requires a very explosive loading technique so that has been the focus of training.
All events for the strength challenge should be approached with the same attitude. There is absolutely no reason anyone should zero an event when YOU get to choose the weight you are attempting. If you think it doesn’t matter you should. Whether it’s a novice event at a local gym or the Arnolds in front of thousands of people your attitude towards the event should be the same. Put forth your best effort possible and hit a PR in comp conditions.
