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Strongman

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This article is about performers and athletes. For an authoritarian political leader, see Political strongman. For other uses, see Strongman (disambiguation).

Strongman is a competitive strength sport which tests athletes' physical strength and endurance through a variety of heavy lifts and events. Strongman competitions are known for their intensity, pushing athletes to their physical and mental limits.[1] Severe injuries are common.

In modern strongman, athletes compete to score points based on their relative position in an event.[2] An athlete who engages in the sport of strongman is also called a 'strongman'.[3] They are often regarded as some of the strongest men of the world.

The sport also extends to female competitors. Competitions of this sort are typically referred to as strongwoman. Local women's competitions are common and major strongman competitions are increasingly featuring women's competitors. In 2024, women were invited to the Arnold Strongman Classic and Rogue Invitational for the first time.

Etymology

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Many sources state that strongman is a man who performs remarkable feats possessing enormous amounts of strength.[4][5] In the 19th century, the term 'strongman' was referred to an exhibitor of strength during circus performances.[6]

History

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A 19th century Strongman doing a bent press using a circus dumbbell.

Modern strongman generally credits its origins to circus strongmen who became popular in the 19th and 20th centuries. In the first half of the 20th century, strongmen performed various feats of strength such as the bent press (not to be confused with the bench press, which did not exist at the time), supporting large amounts of weight held overhead at arm's length, steel bending, chain breaking, etc. They needed to have large amounts of wrist, hand, and tendon strength for these feats, as well as prodigious oblique strength.[7] Athletes including Louis Cyr, Apollon, Donald Dinnie, and Arthur Saxon are credited as major innovators in the sport. Many events today, including the Cyr dumbbell, Apollon's axle clean-and-press, Dinnie stones, and Saxon bar deadlift bear their names.

In the late 20th century, the term strongman evolved to describe one who competes in strength athletics – a more modern eclectic strength competition in which competitors display their raw functional strength through exercises such as deadlifts, squats, overhead log lifts, lifting stones, toting refrigerators, pulling heavy vehicles and tossing or loading weights. With the advent of the World's Strongest Man competition, strongman began to be formalized as a competitive sport rather than a non-competitive spectacle. Since the advent of the modern sport, competitions including Arnold Strongman Classic, Europe's Strongest Man, Strongman Champions League, World's Ultimate Strongman, World's Strongest Viking, World Muscle Power Classic, Fortissimus, Pure Strength, Rogue Invitational, Shaw Classic, Giants Live, IFSA World Championships, Strongman Super Series and World Strongman Challenge have adopted a standardized format based on the original World's Strongest Man.[3]

More than 30 countries also hold national-level strongman competitions.[8] Local competitions featuring amateur athletes are also common.

Modern Format

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In its modern format, a strongman competition will typically consist of several events (ranging from as few as five to as many as eight at the international level) testing different aspects of strength. These may include static lifts such as a deadlift, overhead press, or squat or a dynamic event involving moving with weight. Athletes may, for example, pick up a heavy apparatus and carry it for a certain distance or drag a vehicle attached by a harness.

Strongman competitions score competitors by comparing their relative place in an event and awarding more points to competitors with better finishes. Typically, first place in an event will receive a number of points equal to the number of competitors. For example, if an athlete finishes first in the deadlift in a competition with 10 competitors, they will receive 10 points, with second receiving nine, and so on, until last place receives only one point.

Most competitions award zero points if an athlete could not complete a lift or start the event--if, for example, an athlete could not pick up a stone in a stone-carrying event, they would be awarded zero points. Competitions will also normally split points based on ties, adding up the combined points for their places and averaging them out. For example, if two athletes finish tied for first in a 10-athlete competition, the scores for first and second (10 and 9 points) will be added up and divided by two, resulting in each athlete being awarded 9.5 points.

Training

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Training for strongman involves building overall strength in the gym and training with competition implements to gain familiarity. In the gym, it is necessary to train the entire body for strength, especially with variants of the squat, deadlift, and overhead press. Explosive power is also important, which is developed by weightlifting style lifts and cardiovascular conditioning. Additionally, grip strength must be developed and it is also imperative to improve mental toughness and pain tolerance.[9]

Although you can do general strength training, at a typical gym, training with a strongman regimen requires equipment not typically found in a gym. Some equipment used in a strongman competition would have to be found custom-made or at a strongman gym. Some of these equipment includes natural stones, tree trunk logs, farmers walk frames, yokes, kegs and various sorts of vehicles.

Another part of a strongman's training is its intense diet regime. The biggest strongman competitors would need to ingest around 8,000 - 10,000 calories a day.

Events

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Brian Shaw performing the Rogue Elephant bar raw deadlift at the 2017 Arnold Strongman Classic

Though competitive strongman events are ever-changing, there are a number of staples that frequently appear on the international stage,[10] including:

Notable strongmen

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Traditional strongmen

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The strongmen are listed according to the chronological order of their birth.

  • Roy van Rumph

    • Modern Strongmen

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    Main article: List of strongmen

    The following 75 strongmen have reached the podium (1st, 2nd or 3rd place) of World's Strongest Man since 1977 and/or World Muscle Power Classic from 1985 to 2004 and/or Arnold Strongman Classic since 2002. They are listed according to the chronological order of their podium appearance.

    24 of them have won the World's Strongest Man (WSM), 11 have won the World Muscle Power Classic (WMPC) and 9 have won the Arnold Strongman Classic (ASC).

    7 men have won both WSM & WMPC (Kazmaier, Capes, Sigmarsson, Reeves, Magnússon, Ahola, Karlsen). 5 men have won both WSM & ASC (Savickas, Shaw, Björnsson, Licis, Hooper).

    Additionally, the following 50 strongmen have reached either 4th or 5th places of World's Strongest Man and/or World Muscle Power Classic and/or Arnold Strongman Classic:

    International Accolades

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    • The table below summarizes the 50 most decorated strongmen in modern history with the most number of international wins in their careers (1st places only/ open weight and age categories only).[11]

      Active   Retired

    # Name Country Active Competitions Wins Win %
    1 Žydrūnas Savickas Lithuania Lithuania 1996–2022 147 79 53.74%
    2 Mariusz Pudzianowski Poland Poland 2000–2009 61 43 70.49%
    3 Hafþór Júlíus Björnsson Iceland Iceland 2010– 70 31 44.29%
    4 Brian Shaw United States USA 2007–2023 65 27 41.54%
    5 Aivars Šmaukstelis Latvia Latvia 2014– 76 26 34.21%
    6 Krzysztof Radzikowski Poland Poland 2005–2019 112 24 21.43%
    7 Ervin Katona Serbia Serbia 2003–2015 99 17 17.17%
    8 Hugo Girard Canada Canada 1998–2008 37 15 40.54%
    9 Dainis Zageris Latvia Latvia 2009–2022 87 15 17.24%
    10 Mitchell Hooper Canada Canada 2022– 23 14 60.87%
    11 Jón Páll Sigmarsson Iceland Iceland 1982–1992 29 13 44.82%
    12 Magnús Ver Magnússon Iceland Iceland 1987–2005 48 12 25.00%
    13 Magnus Samuelsson Sweden Sweden 1995–2008 63 12 19.05%
    14 Jouko Ahola Finland Finland 1994–2002 22 11 50.00%
    15 Riku Kiri Finland Finland 1987–1999 25 11 44.00%
    16 Mateusz Kieliszkowski Poland Poland 2014– 44 11 25.00%
    17 Oleksii Novikov Ukraine Ukraine 2016– 45 11 24.44%
    18 Mikhail Koklyaev Russia Russia 2005–2014 50 11 22.00%
    19 Matjaz Belsak Slovenia Slovenia 2014–2020 64 11 17.19%
    20 JF Caron Canada Canada 2007–2023 73 10 13.70%
    21 Geoff Capes United KingdomEngland UK / England 1979–1988 20 9 45.00%
    22 Svend Karlsen Norway Norway 1996–2006 67 9 13.43%
    23 Bill Kazmaier United States USA 1979–1990 18 8 44.44%
    24 Derek Poundstone United States USA 2006–2017 22 8 36.36%
    25 Martins Licis United States USA 2015– 24 8 33.33%
    26 Vytautas Lalas Lithuania Lithuania 2007–2018 30 8 26.67%
    27 Kelvin de Ruiter Netherlands Netherlands 2011– 40 8 20.00%
    28 Janne Virtanen Finland Finland 1998–2009 50 8 16.00%
    29 Laurence Shahlaei United KingdomEngland UK / England 2007–2021 55 8 14.55%
    30 Travis Ortmayer United States USA 2005–2023 51 7 13.72%
    31 Manfred Hoeberl Austria Austria 1990–1996 18 6 33.33%
    32 Vasyl Virastyuk Ukraine Ukraine 2002–2008 28 6 21.43%
    33 Andrus Murumets Estonia Estonia 2003–2009 40 6 15.00%
    34 Rayno Nel South Africa South Africa 2023– 6 5 83.33%
    35 Adam Roszkowski Poland Poland 2021– 19 5 26.32%
    35 Flemming Rasmussen Denmark Denmark 1995–2001 19 5 26.32%
    37 Mykhailo Starov Ukraine Ukraine 2004–2006 24 5 20.83%
    38 Pavlo Kordiyaka Ukraine Ukraine 2017– 25 5 20.00%
    39 Evan Singleton United States USA 2018– 29 5 17.24%
    40 Johannes Årsjö Sweden Sweden 2007–2017 39 5 12.82%
    41 Mikhail Shivlyakov Russia Russia 2011–2021 44 5 11.36%
    41 Stojan Todorchev Bulgaria Bulgaria 2005–2017 44 5 11.36%
    43 Raivis Vidzis Latvia Latvia 2002–2009 46 5 10.87%
    43 Jarek Dymek Poland Poland 2000–2010 46 5 10.87%
    45 Oskar Ziółkowski Poland Poland 2020– 13 4 30.77%
    46 Mike Burke United States USA 2011–2015 19 4 21.05%
    47 Didzis Zariņš Latvia Latvia 2011– 23 4 17.39%
    48 Trey Mitchell United States USA 2016– 26 4 15.38%
    49 Tom Stoltman United KingdomScotland UK / Scotland 2016– 32 4 12.50%
    50 Glenn Ross United KingdomNorthern Ireland UK / Northern Ireland 1997–2011 33 4 12.12%

    - As of 24 November 2024

    Incorrect usage

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    Strongman is often incorrectly used to describe a person who does powerlifting, weightlifting or bodybuilding. Due to the circus and entertainment background, nineteenth-century bodybuilders were expected to mingle with the crowd during intermission and perform strength feats like card tearing, nail bending, etc. to demonstrate strength as well as symmetry and size.

    See also

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    References

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    1. ^ Maanas, Aaromal (2 November 2022). "Who is the World's Strongest Man? Ranking the top five Strongest Men in History". Sportskeeda. Retrieved 2 November 2022.
    2. ^ "About Strongman - competitors are tested for their pure strength". Robert Wood for Topend Sports Website. Retrieved 10 September 2024.
    3. ^ a b "The origins of Strongman sport, a story of strength and challenge". Kingsbox. 15 June 2023. Retrieved 10 September 2024.
    4. ^ "Strongman". www.collinsdictionary.com. Retrieved 10 September 2024.
    5. ^ "Strongman". www.dictionary.com. Retrieved 10 September 2024.
    6. ^ "STRONGMAN". ERA-FIT Ltd Bespoke Fitness Systems. Retrieved 2019-09-05.[permanent dead link‍]
    7. ^ "Notable Strongmen and their fascinating feats of strength". 20 May 2017.
    8. ^ "STRONGMAN CONTESTS". strongmanarchives.com. Retrieved 2022-04-13.
    9. ^ "Strongman Training at Home". Andre Adams. Retrieved 10 September 2024.
    10. ^ "Strongman Events". strongman.org. Retrieved 2012-12-28.
    11. ^ "Strongman Archives - Athletes". Strongman Archives. April 5, 2022. Retrieved April 6, 2022.
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