Q: Joe,
On one heck of a recommendation from one of my good friends, Vinny Ciurciu, I wanted to ask for your advice. I finished playing college football at William and Mary last season and have since started my career in Mortgage Banking. I was a 300lb. guard in college, but fell in love with lifting weights. I've lost 55lbs. since December and recently competed in a bodybuilding contest. Bodybuilding is fun, but I am not in love with it like I am pure powerlifting and being a big boy. I guess I could never part with my love for the strength aspect of lifting weights.
While in college, I did compete in powerlifting. Some of my best lifts were a documented 535 lb. bench press, 640 lb. squat (no suit), 405 lb. hang clean and a 385 lb. push press off the rack.

I have recently decided that I want to compete in strongman competitions. I realize that the training for these strongman events is different from bodybuilding and even powerlifting. I was wondering if you had any good exercises related to these strongman events that could help me in my venture. I really miss being able to move the big weight. I know you’re a busy man, and I appreciate your time. Thanks again, and I hope all of your athletes are appreciative of what they have in a teacher.

Thank you.
Ray

A: Ray,
Before we get into specific exercises and routines, I want to give you my Top 10 guidelines regarding the training for strongman competitions. They are just a start to get you headed in the right direction.

1. Always do some variation of the deadlift early in the week - preferably Monday. (Studies have shown that exercises performed earlier in the week make the best gains. So while everyone else in the gym is bench-pressing on Monday night, you'll be deadlifting.) Improving your deadlift strength should be your top priority. A lot of strongman events are "deadlift-based." Trap bar deadlifts, straight & thick bar deadlifts and partial deadlifts from the rack are all great choices. Since you've done some powerlifting in the past, it's important for you to know that the deadlift has much more carryover to strongman events - compared to the squat & bench.
2. Although we all love to bench press, don't spend a lot of your time benching. Your main pressing movement should usually be an overhead pressing variation. Standing dumbbell presses (single & double arm), standing overhead rack lockouts and push jerks are all great choices.
3. Start getting strong in "bottom position" movements. That is, initiate the movement from the bottom, where the lowering of the weight would have put you. Almost all of the strongman events require bottom position starting strength (car deadlift, stone lift, tire flipping, etc.) Suspended chain good mornings and bottom-position squats in the power rack will greatly improve this trait. (I will have a picture & description of suspended chain good mornings on my website soon.)
4. Work the "core" (abs & low-back) hard! A strong core will assist you in virtually every event. Make sure you train them with weight, also. 3 sets of 25 crunches doesn't have much carryover to the strongman events. Do weighted ab work, side bends, good mornings, reverse hyperextensions & regular hyperextensions.
5. Include some direct bicep work in your routine. This may sound like "vanity" work to an ex-powerlifter, but many strongman events require strong biceps.
6. Invest in a thick bar and do ALL of your barbell exercises with it. 1 3/4" - 2" thick bars are your best bet. I bought my thick bar at AtomicAthletic.com. They also sell heavy stones, farmers walk implements, logs and other strongman equipment.
7. I strongly suggest you do direct grip work 2X a week. If your grip sucks, you won't go far in strongman competitions.
8. Make sure you get out of "bodybuilder-mode". What I mean by this is don't do too many exercises each workout. Remember that strongman exercises expend a heck of a lot more energy than most "bodybuilding" exercises. If you try to do 9-12 different exercises per workout, you will overtrain before you can say, "Magnus ver Magneson".
9. Don't buy bodybuilding magazines anymore! If you have any, burn them. They are useless! You don't want them to persuade you and your training by giving you false information. Remember that although professional bodybuilders have more muscle than most other athletes, many of them can’t deadlift 2 wet socks!
10. Each strongman event is a "sport" in and of itself. To get good at each event, you must practice them! Your "weight room" workouts build your "foundational strength", but when you're getting ready for a contest, you must practice the events.
    
    Just like an Olympic sprinter who lifts weights, yet can't neglect the intricacies of his event - his stance, start technique, running mechanics, etc. Each strongman event has a technique and you must practice it as well. This is the tough part.
    
    Eventually, if you want to be great at this sport, you must purchase some strongman implements so you can practice the events as your contest approaches. (Entering an amateur contest is also a great way to practice technique and "talk shop" with more experienced strongman.) Performance of the actual events is also the best way to get in “strongman-shape”. Remember that it is not good enough to be big, strong and fat. Most strongman events have an endurance component to them.

So that is my "Top 10" guidelines for you to start. Below is a very general outline of a sample workout week. You don't have to follow it word for word. I wrote it for you so you can start getting into "strongman" mode. Keep me posted on your progress. I'll help you along the way with more specific advice as you gain more experience.

MONDAY
A. Deadlift variation - 5-8 sets, 1-3 reps
B. Overhead press variation - 4-5 sets, 6-12 reps
C. Row variation - 3-4 sets, 15-20 reps
D. Heavy weighted abs (4 sets of 6-10 reps)

WEDNESDAY
A. Bottom-position squat in power rack - 4-7 sets, 1-3 reps
B. Reverse Hyperextensions or weighted hyperextensions - 4 sets of 15 reps
C. Towel chin-ups - 3 sets as many as possible
D. Abs

FRIDAY
A. Hang clean & press - 3-6 sets, 3-5 reps
B. Thick bar bench press - 3-5 sets, 3-5 reps
C. Standing thick bar curls - 5 sets of 5 reps
D. Thick bar hold (overhand grip) - 3 sets of 60 seconds (as heavy as possible)

Be prepared to have everyone in the gym look at you funny! Remember that people fear what they do not know!

Joe D.

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Q: Although I love your “training pics”, I noticed you don’t have any of your athletes performing any power cleans. Don’t you feel that the Olympic lifts are essential for athletes? If not, how do you get your athletes explosive?
Thanks.

Mike R.

A: Mike,
I train my athletes like athletes, not Olympic weightlifters. The reason why I’m not a huge fan of the Olympic lifts is that they take a long time to teach. That is, if you teach them correctly. Also, most athletes are horrible at the Olympic lifts. The reason why most athletes aren’t great at the Olympic lifts is usually because they aren’t strong enough in the right places. After assessing an athlete’s power clean or power snatch form, I usually conclude that their technique flaws are due to a lack of hamstring, glute and low-back strength. This assessment usually means that I end up prescribing more trap-bar deadlifts, reverse hyperextensions, glute-ham raises, etc. This is called the TRAINING ECONOMY. Getting stronger in the deadlift, reverse hyper & glute-ham raise will improve your power clean, but it doesn’t work the other way around. Basically, I choose the exercises that give my athletes the best “bang for their buck”.

You also asked me how I get my athletes “explosive” if I don’t do a lot of power cleans. Here’s my answer: Most people say that they like the Olympic lifts because they are “fast”. Most coaches can’t accept the fact that any lift can be “fast”! For example, one day a week I use box squats with sub-maximal weights as an “explosive” exercise for my athletes. For an athlete who can squat 505lbs., I might use 315lbs. for multiple sets of 2 reps. The athlete would perform these reps as fast as possible. Since 315lbs. represents about 60% of his 1-rep max, science has proven that the weight is heavy enough to produce enough force, yet light enough to produce enough speed. And we should all know that speed X strength = power.

This same athlete would probably only be able to perform power cleans with about 225lbs. So I ask you this question, “Would you rather be explosive with 225lbs. or 315lbs.?” I’d rather have my athletes move heavier weights faster.

In conclusion, it’s not that I don’t like power cleans or that I never do them, I just feel that there are usually quicker, more efficient ways to achieve certain goals.
Hope this clears things up a bit.

Joe D.

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Q: In a recent post from John, you mentioned the “tension effect.” What the heck does that mean? Please help. I’m trying to learn as much as I can.
Sam

A: Sam,
I apologize for not being a bit clearer. Let’s try and straighten this out. Think of the muscles of your body as the links of a chain. We’ve all heard of the phrase that “we’re only as strong as our weakest link.” Very simply put, that is what the “tension effect” means.

Quite often, improperly trained stabilizing muscles will prevent the body from increasing the load on an exercise. The GOLGI TENDON ORGAN (a proprioceptor which has the ultimate function of protecting the muscle and it’s connective tissue from injury due to an excessive load) sends an inhibitory message to the brain. This message basically says to “shut down” a muscle if it senses injury is going to occur to another muscle that is active in the movement. Many times this is why someone would fail to make a lift in the weight room, thus preventing strength gains.

Here’s an example: Although your pecs and triceps may be the prime movers in the bench press, you might miss a big bench if your smaller, external rotators aren’t up to the task of stabilizing the weight. Your brain will basically “shut off” your prime movers, if it senses an injury will occur to your external rotators.

That is as simple as I can make a relatively complicated subject. Hope you got it.

Joe D.

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