The Axle Press is an odd event and a challenging one that has a colorful and often misunderstood history. It’s origins stem from early stories about an implement referred to as the Apollon’s Wheel, a set of 26 inch diameter railway car wheels attached to an axle that was 49mm thick weighing in at 166 kg. Traditionally the wheels are non rotating essentially making the axle one solid piece that is difficult to rotate and when is rotated creates a large amount of momentum for which you need to overcome.
Back in the early days when the Apollon’s wheel was considered a traditional challenge lift for strongmen it had to be cleaned and hoisted overhead. That meant no continental clean or shouldering of the bar hence why it was considered so difficult. As part of the advancement of strongman competition and the sport as a whole certain elements of this have been made more lax or moved forward with the times depending on who’s opinion you prefer. Nowadays you may find either a rotating or non rotating bar and it can be lifted from ground to overhead anyway you can. A more suitable title for the lift is the Overhead Anyhow.
At Iron Revolution we have a mix of different axle bars and wheels to suit all conditions including different thickness bars from 46mm through to the Stand or Submit Custom 1 piece Apollon wheel replica. Traditionally we train with the 49mm bar as it makes the grip a little trickier than the 46mm bars so we can be prepared for all conditions. The first issue is getting the bar to the shoulders. There are a few different techniques I teach depending on the individual’s lifting background, size/weight and whether they are a more explosive presser or olympic style lifter or more of your strongman grind the press out type lifter.
The Clean/Shouldering the Bar
Larger lifters with a more prominent belly will be better suited to the continental style clean and those without will be better suited to a hip clean or power clean from the hip. A large part of this will depend on whether you are allowed to use the belt to rest the bar on or not. In my opinion if you are allowed to wear the belt you should be allowed to rest the bar on it during the attempt. I still focus on teaching my lifters to not rely on it just in case the rules forbid it but for learning purposes it helps a lot when trying to learn correct positioning in the lift and placement of the axle bar.
Regardless it’s very important to make sure you keep the axle path close to the body and gripped tightly whether you use a false grip or regular doesn’t matter too much I recommend going with whatever feels strongest and causes the least aggravation through the biceps or elbows. I highly recommend wrist wraps on this event as it helps stabilise the wrist and make it more stable on against the large rotating mass that is the axle bar. Whatever method you choose make sure you start off light and work your way up as the technique improves. I highly recommend doing sets of at least 3 reps but 5 is preferable to develop the skill effectively.
Here in this video one of the Australia’s top U90kg Strongmen Rahn Deuis demonstrates all the variations I mention in the one complex
https://www.instagram.com/p/BIT-7B8jOVB/?taken-by=rahndeuis
The Press/Push Press/Jerk
The Axle is well suited to the various overhead press methods and due to it being closer in dimensions to the barbell either the push press or jerk movements all work well. Again you tend to see the larger lifters opting for more of a press/push press movement and the smaller more nimble lifters opting for the jerk movements as it’s far easier for them to get down under the bar. It is good practice to work on more than 1 of the above to properly develop all aspects of the lift, the strength components and the speed/power components.
The focus for each variant should still be speed. The more intent you have behind the press the better it will go up. Doing reps on the bar is a must build strength in shoulders and triceps as well as acclimatising yourself to the demands of doing multiple reps and doing so under fatigue. Shoulder mobility and stability can be a big limiting factors in how quickly you fatigue. If you do not have the mobility to rest the bar on the top of your chest then you need to focus on that. If the biggest men in the world can do it you can too. Having to hold the bar out in front of you is taxing and wasted energy in both max rep and 1rm events. You don’t need to be able to rack the bar on the shoulders the same as a front squat but it does help significantly if you can.
Training The Axle Press
We train the upper body 2-3 times per week depending on the time available to for individual. 2 weekday session focussing on shoulders/overhead press and a main movement and bench press and other variants for assistance work. On Saturday we do event training and always keep the competition specific press variation for that day so it’s done in conjunction with the other movements. I break down the different movements on different days as part of our overhead training throughout the week including some pressing on event day.
Some people are not big advocates of doing overheads on event day and if you have to prioritise your lifts then it may work out better. At Iron Revolution we press 2-3 times per week so fitting some comp specific pressing in on event day is a good fit and works well. We do 1 high volume day, 1 high intensity day and the third if it fits is a moderate volume/intensity day with a variation of the press that focuses on the area needing help the most. An example of the week might look like this;
Day 1: Log push press 8 sets x 5 reps (high volume)
+ BHNP, Chin Ups, Dips, Barbell Curls
Day 2: Strict press axle 4 sets x 8-10 reps (moderate volume/intensity)
+ Incline Bench Press, Overhead Dicks Press, Hammer Curls
Day 3: Axle clean and jerk 3 sets x 3 reps (high intensity)
The sessions progress towards a peak 1rm as the next comp is for max weight not reps. The log is kept in the program as it is the most common event to appear in competition. Whether I keep it in as a main movement or an accessory it almost always stays in our programming.
Signing off
