The Truck Pull or any vehicle pull is undoubtedly one of the most exciting events in strongman competition and is definitely a crowd favourite. Ranging from 10 tonne trucks pulled arm over arm with a rope right through airplanes pulled down a runway if it can have a harness or rope attached to it chances are a strongman (or a Strongwoman!) has tried to pull it. Variables such as weight of the vehicle, weight of the competitor, the surface on which it’s moving, footwear, the rope or harness used all matter very little if you don’t have the strength, conditioning and technique to complete an exhausting all out effort. Some factors are beyond your control as a competitor and to an extent even sometimes as a promoter and event organiser. You cannot control the weather and while you can do your best to take every precaution to minimise issues on the day sometimes equipment can malfunction or break. As a competitor being prepared for anything sets up you with the greatest chance of success.
Training For A Heavy Truck Pull
I have been to an event where we had a truck pull planned with the heavyweights to be doing arm over arm and the u105s with a harness and rope. The rain was belting down and it was far too dangerous to use the harness as we couldn’t get proper footing and the surface became slippery. So instead the U105s had to do arm over arm and some of us actually beat a few heavies haha. In the lead up to this particular comp my partner and I had not trained for that at all. In fact we hadn’t pulled a vehicle in the lead up either. The majority of our work was done on a heavy sled and prowler. Training this way particularly early on in the program will have huge benefits in leg strength and conditioning that transfer well to the truck pull. Because both of us were proficient at either method of pulling we did well when we had to do the arm over arm instead of the harness pull.
Technique and Body Position
I break this down into 2 phases with each one having it’s own importance. The start and the acceleration are both equally important as you can come undone at either one and make life difficult for yourself and the event a flop. Getting a good start exerting the minimal amount of energy by using good technique and body position followed by blasting through the rest of the course will ensure success and the fastest time possible.
The Start Phase: This is the key to success. Getting into a good position from the start to maximize your bodyweight and leverage to help move the vehicle will set you up for a fast time. Keeping your body low with the hips and shoulders parallel to the ground and knees bent. It is the same position you need to get into for a successful rugby scrum. You need your entire body weight leaning forward into the harness and projecting the force forward not upward. Inexperienced competitors commonly make this mistake when they have the rope and harness as the rope can give you a false sense of strength when you are pulling on it yet you will still go nowhere.
See pics below: Pic 1 is the incorrect position and Pic 2 demonstrates the perfect truck pull position with your body.
This is the WRONG way to try and pull any heavy vehicle, sled or object.
Truck Pull perfection as demonstrated by the legend Mariusz Pudzianowski
The Middle and Finish Phase: This is the position you want to be in when the vehicle is moving and you can focus on getting it going faster. By faster I mean as fast as you can while maintaining this position with your body so you keep your weight leaning forward into the harness and use the legs to drive it forward. Short, fast footsteps are crucial to securing a good time here. You want your body angle to be around 30 degrees from the ground giving you a good forward lean projecting the force generated forwards into the harness and keeping your feet back behind your body. We are looking for the best balance possible between forward momentum with your body while keeping your feet behind you but not so far back you lose footing and slip. Obviously a good choice of shoes will help with traction as well. Rock climbing shoes are the best however a shoe like the Nike Metcon will do the job in most cases as well.
Using Sleds/Prowlers/Tires vs Using A Vehicle
Being a big proponent of using a variety of training implements it should come as now surprise that we use different implements through the program. Using a heavy sled or prowler can have a dramatic affect on your leg strength and foot speed for an event like this. A sled provides constant friction of the that makes leg drive and footwork critical if you are going to move it for more than a meter or two. Therefore keeping up the momentum and working as hard to keep the sled moving while maintaining the correct body position transfers well to a truck which rolls on its wheels once you get it started. Using a heavy sled will require you to stay in a horizontal position to keep the momentum up. If you stop the sled will lose all momentum and if you become too upright you won’t be able to transfer the forces to the ground effectively and the sled will stop dead. It may be far less visually impressive using a heavy steel sled compared to a truck but the rewards are well worth it.
If you can nail everything mentioned above then you are in a great position to do well in a vehicle pull event. In Training we go from doing maximum distance covered in a set time period and work our way down to the comp distance for multiple sets. If you keep working hard to build your leg strength and keep up your conditioning through foundational movements like squats, yoke and various carries an event like this will be a breeze with the right technical aspects nailed.
Signing off
StrongAz
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