Training

After we looked at the basics of the Strongman sport and how to prepare for your first competition in the first part, in this second part of this article I will look at the most important disciplines in Strongman competitions and explain what you need to pay attention to.

The strongman disciplines

Now that you know the basics and how to prepare for a competition, it's time to take a look at some of the most common Strongman disciplines.

Super Yoke / Yoke Walk(https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hDr8iweoEMI):

The Yoke Walk is an excellent test of body-wide strength, endurance and willpower. This discipline is completely different from walking with a barbell on your back or with Farmer Walk equipment. This discipline is unique in terms of the balance required for the massive weight on your shoulders while walking. This will challenge your upper, middle and lower back, your quadriceps, your hamstrings, your calves, your core and even your arms and chest. This is also the discipline where I injured myself during my first competition, which is why it has a special place in my heart.

What is a yoke? A yoke in this context is a frame of two upright bars connected to a crossbar that runs across your shoulders. The vertical bars have runners or platforms to keep them stable. Weights are attached to these bars to make the whole apparatus heavier.

The first thing to note about this discipline is that the yoke will be heavy - probably heavier than anything you've ever done deep squats with. For a small competition, expect something in the 250 to 300 kilo range. The crossbar will be around 5 centimeters thick. Although this will cut less than a barbell, keep in mind that it will start to slide more easily, so use chalk.

To perform the yoke walk, place the crossbar at an appropriate height, somewhere in the range of a quarter squat - or as low as you see most people go when doing squats at the gym. You can also place the bar a little higher, but make sure you have at least 7 to 8 centimeters of ground clearance when you stand upright, otherwise you run the risk of the bar touching the ground as you walk and losing your balance.

Try out different hand positions to see what feels the most stable. Please note that I did not say "comfortable" - there is no such thing as comfortable in strongman sports. I prefer to place my hands further out, but many competitive athletes prefer a tighter, slightly more than shoulder-width grip.

Position yourself under the bar, take a deep breath as you would for a squat and lift the bar. If necessary, once you are standing upright, take half a second to find a stable stance. Now walk with small, quick steps as fast as you can to the other side of the course. Try your best to maintain a flat gait. Any sideways movement and any up and down movement will cause the yoke to sway, which can affect your balance, cost you time and possibly even cause injury.

Do your best to take small, shallow breaths, as deep breaths can change your internal pressure and affect your stability.

So this is the yoke walk. This is a fairly easy discipline to learn, but it can be difficult to achieve perfection. At every competition I have been to where the yoke walk has been part of the competition disciplines, I have seen at least one injury to a participant who was not properly prepared.

Here are a few final tips. The Yoke Walk is a discipline where a belt and wrist wraps can be a good choice. Maintain your body tension, stay stable and keep yourself straight. If you have to drop the equipment, do so. Pick it up again as quickly as possible afterwards instead of trying to catch it and risking a hamstring injury. And most importantly of all, enjoy running for a distance with a weight that would crush other men.

Log Clean and Press - Log Clean and Press(https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IbAK31BPotw)

Log Clean and Press is unlike anything you've ever done before - unless, of course, you've never done a Log Clean and Press before. This discipline is a test of your core stability and raw upper body strength. At the end of the day, strong shoulders and triceps will contribute to success. This exercise has nothing to do with pressing a standard barbell or even an axle - so be prepared for the learning curve on this exercise before moving on to significant weights.

There are three primary differences between the log and a traditional barbell:

• The most obvious difference is the circumference of the log. A 30 centimeter diameter makes your life harder not only with the weight, but also with the fact that you have to push the center of gravity further away from you. This in turn makes balance very difficult and reduces the amount of momentum from your legs that is transferred to the log.
• The second difference is the lack of pivoting weight holders. This will make it harder for you to get under the bar during the press and make the weight appear heavier during the transfer.
• Lastly, the parallel grip of the two handles dramatically increases the dynamics required to perform the reposition and also significantly changes the pressing part of the movement.

To perform the log clean and press, grasp the handles inside the log firmly and pull the log towards your waist. Bend your knees and pull the log towards your abdomen, keeping your elbows high and out. Then perform an explosive movement from the legs and lift the shoulders to support the rolling movement of the log towards your chest. Try not to curl the log unless you are enjoying the thought of bicep surgery.

Once the log is in place on your upper chest, lean back and take a breath. Bend your knees slightly and perform a sweeping press with support from your legs if needed, but keep in mind that the center of gravity is in front of you, which means you won't get as much help from your legs. Once the log has passed your head, move underneath it to gain stability and hyperextend your arms.

Depending on the competition, you may only need to move the log up once and then perform several repetitions of overhead presses, or you may need to repeat the transfer movement with each repetition. If you perform presses on repetitions after one repetition, catch the log with your chest and push it up until you reach the point of muscle failure. If you have to reposition the log with every repetition, lower it in a controlled manner, as the competition organizers will resent you if you drop it from full height.

Like many disciplines in Strongman competitions, Log Clean and Press is a good candidate for supportive equipment and chalk. Treat your hands, chest and shoulders with chalk to prevent slipping. Use a weightlifting belt for better core stability and wrist wraps. Depending on the rules of the competition, elbow wraps may be allowed, but this is not the case in all competitions, so check the rules before using such wraps.

Axle Clean and Press - Moving and pressing with an axle(https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VdeHikSTxQ8):

Let's start at the very beginning for those who don't know much about Axle Clean and Press or the axle itself. The axle is a nasty bar that is about 5 centimeters thick and usually has no knurling. The whole purpose of this bar is to make it hard for you to grip. Some guys, like Mark Felix, have such big hands that the grip is no problem, but for the rest of us, this bar presents a whole new level of difficulty.

Another thing to keep in mind is that the axle doesn't have a pivoting pulley mount, which makes exercises where you have to move under the bar for a transfer and press movement much more difficult.

I am assuming at this point that you already have experience with repositioning and pressing with a normal bar. If the weight is light enough, then take the bar, reposition the weight and push it up. Be warned that the weight will feel much heavier due to the diameter of the bar. If it is too heavy, reposition it in the traditional way by continental repositioning.

The continental transfer involves pulling the bar up to the upper abdomen where it pauses briefly before finishing the movement to the shoulders. An over/under grip is often used for this to achieve a sufficiently good hold and move the bar as far up as possible. This is the grip I will use at this point.

To perform the continental transfer, grab the axle with an over/under grip. Pull it up quickly and perform a shoulder lift movement. Depending on the organizer, you may be able to support the bar briefly on your belt. However, this is not allowed in many competitions, so familiarize yourself with the rules beforehand. If you are unable to place the bar on your belt, you must generate enough speed and momentum to be able to place the bar on your stomach. Don't have a stomach? Get one. I recommend pizza, chicken wings and lots of fried chicken.

Once the bar is on your belt, take a moment to collect yourself. Get on your knees and explode upwards, keeping your hands in an over/under grip and let the bar land as high on your abs as possible. From here, continue as normal for both execution styles.

You will probably need to lean back slightly to catch the bar with your upper abs. Quickly switch to a pure overhand grip (this is where an abdominal is helpful to keep the bar in place), grab the bar and pull it as hard as you can towards you rather than upwards. Now continue the transferring movement up to your shoulders. If you need to move the bar up bit by bit in short bursts, that's fine - do whatever it takes to get it to your shoulders. As a side note, it may help to rub chalk on your chest and shoulders to prevent the bar from slipping.

From here you can push the bar up, thrust, or whatever is necessary.

Conan's Wheel(https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=d-SaGVQXgpo):

This might be one of the manliest sounding disciplines in strongman. It's also definitely one of the most likely to make you cry like a little girl. The idea is simple. Hold a 7.5 centimeter thick bar with a Zercher grip and run in circles for as long as you can. Performing this exercise is one of the most painful things you will ever experience aside from excreting a kidney stone.

The Conans Wheel equipment basically consists of a long bar connected to a wheel or something similar, which will allow you to walk in a large circle. The bar will be connected to some kind of basket or platform which will be loaded with weights. You will be forced to bend your knees to take the bar in your arms and then walk in a circle until you can't do any more. Be very careful with this discipline - I've seen more hernias (in the sense of lifting a hernia) and lower back injuries with this than any other discipline. For heavyweight lifters, the weights I've seen ranged from 200 to 260 kilos.

To perform this exercise, you should grip the bar as far in as possible - there is no need to run a longer distance than necessary as this does not count extra. Take a deep breath and bend your knees as if you were going to perform a Zercher squat. Place your forearms under the bar and pull your forearms back towards you so that the bar is directly above your elbows. Then stand up. If you are still in one piece, then you are holding yourself well.

Now start to run quickly and evenly. Keep your back tense and upright, and maybe even lean backwards a little if you can. Keep your hands as high up as possible so that you can walk until the massive muscles in your legs and upper back give up - and not your puny biceps.

Take small, quick breaths, but be careful not to hyperventilate. This discipline is all about total distance, so a moderate and steady pace is the best choice. Right about now you'll probably want to give up. Let it go - you've only run three steps. Keep your legs moving and don't stop until you're physically exhausted.

This discipline is exceptionally hard on your core and hamstrings, so protect them as much as possible. I recommend a weightlifting belt, but you will need to turn it backwards so that you are not able to rest the bar on the buckle. I also recommend rubbing chalk on your arms and abdomen to get as much grip as possible.

This is not a technical discipline, but it is brutally difficult. The best way to prepare for this exercise is to either use the actual equipment or perform Zercher Walks with a yoke. If neither is available to you, you can perform Zercher squats with a traditional barbell, which you can wrap a towel around to reduce the abrasions and bruising from the heavy weight.

Tire Flip(https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kt55zsk42yw):

This is a pretty solid discipline. You have a big tire, probably in the 300 kilo weight range. You flip the tire as many times as possible. Done. Next discipline. Okay, okay, I'll give you a little bit more information. There's probably more technique involved in this discipline than you might think. I'm going to explain setup, grip and every part of the actual movement. At the end, I'll give you some ideas on where you can get your own tire - maybe even for free.

A word of caution. It's very easy to injure yourself with a tire. This is not a deadlift, it's not a fancy triple extension with a twist and it's not a curl movement. So don't even try to do this exercise like this. Curl a 300 kilo tire and you'll probably tear your biceps.

I've seen a number of different types of tire flips. Some were for distance, some were for reps and all were timed. If you need to cover as much distance as possible, then the push at the highest point can make all the difference. This is a little less important when it comes to completing as many reps as possible, but can still ruin your time if you don't push centered and the tire bobs and rolls when it hits the ground. I'll cover the basics first and then look at the differences in technique between the two variations.

Start with a hip-width stance - which is always the most comfortable and at least 30 to 45 centimetres away from the tire. Go down towards the tire with a squat movement and press your shoulders against the tire. If possible, use a wider than shoulder-width grip with your fingers firmly under the tread. Depending on the tire, tall athletes like me may have trouble getting far enough down to push your shoulders against the tire, but do your best.

Now that you're in the starting position, push your legs down and back, keeping your back straight and under tension and your arms straight. And I'll say it again - try to curl this thing and you'll tear something. When you're about to fully straighten your legs, continue leaning against the tire and start pushing it forward with your chest and hips. You may need to use one knee for support as you move forward.

Use a single continuous motion to push against the tire as it straightens. Be careful to only apply pressure against the center of the tire or it may start to roll, costing you valuable time and pride. There's not much more embarrassing than trying to get the tire to stop while it's wobbling on the ground so you can grab it again.

Some people will chalk themselves before the tire flip or work with their upper body exposed to get better traction. I would recommend chalk, but can't say much about doing it bare-chested. I think this would pull out my chest hair and I like my fur.

I promised you I would talk about the difference between tire flips on reps and at distance. There's not a big change here in terms of technique, but there are differences. When you do tire flips reps on reps, you don't have to worry about pushing the tire as far as you can in the upright position. Just move it down quickly and stably.

When it comes to tire flips at a distance, watch the others. I've watched a tire have to be flipped a second time because it came to rest 5 centimeters before the finish line, ruining the athlete's time.

The best thing you can do to get better at tire flips is to do tire flips. To do this, you need a big tire. And unless that tire weighs well over 200 kilos, it won't really help you.

If you are looking for such a tire, check out stores that sell equipment for farmers or contact a tire dealer. If you're lucky, you can get an old tractor tire or something similar for free, as this saves the dealer from having to charge you for disposal.

Truck pulling(https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PFPZkOF78xY):

The harnessed truck pull is one of the most famous strongman disciplines. Few things are as awe-inspiring as watching a single man pull a heavy truck. Here's what to expect when you try it yourself for the first time.

In truck pulling, you are fitted with a kind of harness that runs across your shoulders and chest. This harness will be connected to a truck or something similar and you will walk forward against the harness to move the truck. You will probably have a thick rope tied to a solid object in front of you that you can use to pull yourself forward with your arms and back. For a smaller competition, you can expect something like a tractor without a trailer or a fire truck. The bigger the competition, the bigger the truck.

This discipline is 60% brute force and 40% technique. You will need a huge push from your legs to get the truck moving, but without the right technique, your movement will quickly slow down. Do your best to stay low in the harness with your chest parallel to the ground rather than upright. This will allow you to use the rope more to your advantage as you pull yourself forward.

Once you have overcome the initial inertia of the truck, you should move forward with small steady steps to keep the truck moving. Try not to take too big steps - you should be in a good leverage position with each step. As you push forward with your legs, you should pull hard on the rope to keep yourself in position and moving.

If at any point you lose momentum, the truck will slow down quickly and you will have to expend enormous amounts of energy to get it moving again. Always move straight forward and do your best to avoid moving sideways as your legs tire, as this would just be wasted effort.

For this discipline, I would recommend rubbing chalk on your hands and wearing shoes with perfect grip. I have seen a lot of people wearing chucks for this discipline and finding it very difficult to maintain any traction. Climbing shoes are a great choice for this discipline, but a pair of hiking boots with a good tread can also work.

Sled Drags - Weight Sled Pulling(https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pM-JH-dvmAg):

Sled dragging is one of the fundamentals of the strongman sport. This discipline will challenge your grip, back, quadriceps and calves along with the rest of your body. As this discipline is often the second part of a medley, you don't have the luxury of performing this discipline in a fresh, rested state - so train accordingly.

The idea of pulling a heavy weight sled from point A to point B doesn't sound like a lot of trouble. However, this discipline requires some technique - in addition to the brute strength and endurance required.

Sled pulling falls into a general category of pulling in terms of discipline. You may have to pull an anchor attached to a heavy chain or a large barge through the water or something else that falls into this general movement pattern. The setup is simple. Grab the pole, chain or rope tightly and go backwards as fast as you can. Up to this point, the whole thing sounds pretty simple. And it would be, if it weren't for our friends friction and inertia.

To overcome inertia, you will probably have to lean back and pull on the sled. However, this can be difficult if you don't keep the rope or chain taut, because by the time you've recovered and are ready to move on, the sled will have come to a stop.

The key is to lean back and start walking at the beginning. Once the sled is moving, you should not stop. Take quick, small steps and pick up as much speed as possible. This is not a discipline where you should hold back and the more speed you build up, the better. But don't sacrifice balance for the sake of speed. If you lose your balance, you will lose all your momentum and a significant amount of pride.

Recommended equipment for this discipline would be chalk on your hands and shoes that have excellent grip. Some may like a belt, but I prefer not to use one for this discipline as it doesn't do much for me. There is not much equipment to help you with this discipline, but once you get the sled moving you should find a good tempo and pull continuously.

Auto deadlift(https://www.youtube.com/results?search_query=car+daedlift+strongman):

The deadlift is a strongman classic. You can find this discipline everywhere from local competitions to international competitions. There are some variations to this discipline when it comes to the type of car that is used and this can make a significant difference to the areas that are stressed the most during this discipline.

Before we cover the specifics based on the different types of equipment, I want to cover the basics. The bar will usually be quite a bit higher than the traditional deadlift - probably somewhere in the 45 centimeter range. In most local competitions, you'll have a weight of around 300 kilos in your hands. You will take your stance, grab the bar and straighten up until your legs are extended. After receiving the signal to lower, you will lower the weight in a controlled manner and wait for the appropriate command to raise the bar again.

Depending on what is available, you will perform this discipline with one of two types of bars. The first is a traditional straight bar attached to the equipment on which the car rests. This may be the more familiar option for you, but it will throw you off in the sense that the bar will not swing towards or away from you as it does in the traditional deadlift. As the bar is attached directly to the equipment, it will move on its own plane - not yours. With this information in mind, no further adjustments are necessary.

The second type of equipment uses two parallel handles, so instead of the traditional handle, you will use a parallel handle. This will be more reminiscent of trap bar deadlifts, but this equipment will also move on its own path - and not yours. Be careful not to position yourself so that your feet are in the way and the handles can fall on your feet as you lower. Another problem can be the extreme muscle soreness in the leg flexors that this variation can cause. For me at least, this grip reduces the involvement of the quadriceps in the execution of the movement and I end up feeling like my hamstrings have been shredded.

Keep in mind that this discipline is about performing as many repetitions as possible in a limited amount of time, so make sure you pace yourself correctly. Don't jerk the weight or move it hastily, but perform as many consistent and clean reps as possible. If things start to get hairy, remember that this is strongman, not powerlifting. It doesn't matter how you move the weight up, as long as you move it up somehow. Avoid snatching and pulling for as long as you can as this will waste energy - however, it can be effective when it comes to forcing a few extra reps.

This is a discipline where the right supporting equipment can help you a lot. In strongman, there is no distinction between raw and assisted. There is nothing glorious about competing without equipment and losing. Familiarize yourself with the rules, but in many cases you are allowed to wear a belt, knee wraps, wrist wraps and a deadlift suit. This is also a good time to take off your shoes or switch to deadlift slippers.

Here are a few final thoughts on training for this discipline. Traditional deadlifts are an obvious choice and rack pulls from mid-shin height can help you get more accustomed to a heavy weight from the height you'll be moving it from in a strongman competition.

I can also highly recommend practicing trap bar deadlifts if you have access to neutral grip equipment as this mimics the movement best. You may have to get creative for this, as most trap bars in commercial gyms will not hold more than 5 heavy weight plates per side, which is completely inadequate.

I'm not going to make any specific recommendations at this point as I don't want people complaining to me afterwards when they've been kicked out of their gym for trying any of this, but if you care enough, you'll find a way to increase the weight.

Farmers Walk(https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=O5jMg81036A):

On the surface, this discipline may look simple. You take a special bar in each hand and walk with it. Nothing special, right? Yes, pretty much. But I don't think this is an easy discipline. I'll go through step by step where things can go wrong and how you can train for this discipline.

The Farmers Walk isn't just about brute strength - it's just as much about speed and stability. To be honest, this applies to most of the strongman sport. Being statically strong is not enough. You need to be fast, strong, stable and in good shape.

At the beginning of this discipline, you are between two bars that are generally between 10 and 15 centimeters thick and loaded with weights at both ends. There are handles on the bars that allow you to get a good grip in a fairly high position. I can't speak for all competitions, but in the competitions I've experienced, the weight was in the region of 100 kilos per hand. This is not overwhelmingly heavy, but it can still be tricky to hold such a weight if you are not used to it.

Before you get into the starting position, you should rub your hands with chalk. A good grip is very important in this discipline and you definitely don't want the weight to slip out of your hands.

Okay, you are in the starting position and your hands are rubbed with chalk. Grip the handles firmly and lift the weights. If you are doing this for the first time, I would recommend that you stand up completely until your legs are stretched and only then start the forward movement, as these things are heavy and unwieldy. Otherwise, you should try out what works best for you during training. Then move to the other side of the field as quickly as possible with short, quick steps and short, quick breaths to maintain a stable posture.

Depending on the course, the exercise may be finished at the other end of the field, or you may have to put the weights down and pick them up again, or you may have to hold them in your hands while you turn around and walk back. If it is one of the first two variations, then you will have an easier time. The third variation is a little trickier. As you turn around, the weights will swing away from you and if you have already changed direction, they will continue to swing in the direction of the turn. Inertia is a bitch. Do your best to stay tight and keep moving. It can help if you slow down and walk another loop before the turn, but practice this several times first if possible.

As far as training goes, using the actual equipment is by far the best way. Dumbbells are not nearly the same. They will bang against your thighs, are usually far too light and don't swing nearly enough. However, if these are all you have, they're not a terribly bad option either. You can also consider using a heavy sandbag or something similar to train your grip. This discipline is less about unbridled strength and more about grip strength and endurance.

Source: https://www.muscleandstrength.com/expert-guides/strongman-training

Skater squats(https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eC8a5nxz22w) are a support exercise for classic squats that has the advantage of building single-leg strength, stability and coordination. This variation is gentler on the knees than pistol squats and can be used as a substitute by exercisers with sensitive knees. The "countermovement" aspect makes the exercise easier by moving the center of mass forward, which increases the lever arm of the hip and reduces the lever arm of the knee.

Dumbbell skater squats with countermovement

• Stand on one leg while holding two light dumbbells in your hands. Bend one knee 90 degrees so that one foot is behind you.
• Shift your weight onto the heel of the supporting leg and lean slightly forward. Then start the downward movement. Go down as far as you can until the knee of the back leg touches the floor while simultaneously moving the dumbbells up in front of your body with your arms straight.
• Maintain a neutral spine position as you push your body back up to the starting position with the help of your supporting leg.

Common mistakes

• Using a weight that is too heavy and drifting the hips
• Rounding the back or leaning the upper body forward too much
• Drifting the back leg to one side, causing excessive rotation
• Touching the floor with the dumbbells instead of maximizing hip range of motion

Don't talk about your goals

Studies show that telling others about your goals makes you less likely to achieve them

By Chris Shugart

Source: https://www.t-nation.com/powerful-words/tip-shut-up-about-your-goals

The typical advice regarding goal setting goes something like this: set a goal and tell other people about it. This will keep you accountable. The problem? In practice, this rarely works. In fact, such an approach can have the exact opposite effect.

Why talking about your goals doesn't work

Several psychological studies, some dating back to 1927, support this - and here's the gist: when you tell others about your goals, you achieve a sense of satisfaction and even a sense of accomplishment. In a way, your mind believes that you have already achieved this goal. Announcing a goal gives you the feeling that you have already come closer to it, even if you have not yet done anything to achieve it.

Psychologists refer to this as a social validation problem. You have identified with a goal and become somewhat complacent when it comes to the things you haven't done yet. Now you are slightly less likely to do the necessary work. This is also known as a premature sense of completion.

Imagine the guy with the tapout t-shirt telling everyone he's going to be an MMA champion. This makes him feel like a badass. He's already taken on that identity in his mind and he's got the t-shirt! The problem is that he's never trained for it, doesn't know any martial arts and is horribly out of shape. Mentally and on a social level, he's a martial arts star. In reality, however, he's just a fan with the illusion of grandeur and bad taste in t-shirts.

A better method

The first thing you can do is keep your mouth shut. Resist the temptation to talk about your goals. Delay the feeling of reward. Be the person who achieves cool goals, not the person who talks about achieving cool goals but never achieves them. Or do what Derek Sivers says: talk about your goal, but do so in a way that doesn't give you much satisfaction. Here are two examples:

My goal is to stop drinking sugary soft drinks. That's going to suck.

My goal is to bench press 200 kilos. That will take a year or more of intense effort and smart workout planning.

Or maybe other people just suck

Another problem: people are a...holes. Or at least many of them are. They struggle with their own inner doubts and insecurities and when someone makes the decision to do something great, it hurts their feelings.

They usually won't overtly try to discourage you, but they will do so in more subtle ways: small comments or actions that will make you waver. Tell your colleague that your goal is to lose 5 kilos and she will almost certainly offer you cookies the next week because you deserve a reward - that fake snake.

It's better if you don't talk about it, do your thing and celebrate your real achievements - not your apparent good intentions.

Use Muscle Snatch to build strength and power(https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9Ze3-UiuRT0)

This is the easiest Olympic-style weightlifting exercise to learn and will turn you into a badass

By Christian Thibaudeau

Source: https://www.t-nation.com/training/tip-do-the-muscle-snatch-for-strength-power

Muscle snatch is the Olympic-style weightlifting exercise for exercisers who have no interest in performing the full Olympic weightlifting exercises. Muscle snatch is basically the bodybuilder's Olympic weightlifting exercise. In this exercise, we leave out everything that prevents many exercisers from using the Olympic weightlifting exercises.

There's no catching with your wrists bent backwards and no complicated technique such as a deep squat movement under the bar as it moves upwards. You simply pull the weight up from the floor, from a hanging position or from blocks. As it approaches your neck, simply move your elbows quickly under the bar while the weight is still moving and then push it up above your head.

How to perform muscle snatches

• Phase 1: Explosively pull the weight up towards your neck, focusing on keeping the weight as close to your body as possible.
• Transition: When the weight reaches its target (neck/chest), perform a lightning-fast transition to...
• Phase 2: The fastest overhead press you are capable of.

Unlike other Olympic weightlifting exercises, you don't perform an explosive movement with your legs - your feet stay on the floor. You push hard with your legs, but there is no jumping to generate momentum.

Mistakes you should avoid

• Letting the weight drift away from your body. If the bar is too far away from your body, then you can't possibly be in a good position to push the weight up after the transfer.
• Pulling the weight too far up (to face level instead of neck level) and finishing the movement as a loaded external rotation instead of a pressing movement.

Time your carbs to lose fat and maintain muscle

How to manipulate your insulin production to get hard and defined while still having enough energy for training and recovery

By Mitch Calvert

Source: https://www.t-nation.com/diet-fat-loss/tip-to-lose-fat-and-keep-muscle-time-carbs-like-this

If you want to lose fat, you should keep your insulin levels in check during inactive periods. Of course, insulin promotes amino acid uptake and protein synthesis, which makes it key to building a muscular body, but insulin is also a double-edged sword.

Insulin is very effective at transporting carbohydrates into muscle and liver tissue (which is good), but it is unfortunately just as good at transporting carbohydrates directly into fat tissue (which is not so good). To get the best of both worlds, if you train later in the day or in the evening, you should avoid carbohydrates at breakfast and during the earlier part of the day. Instead, you should replace carbohydrates with healthy fats and keep your protein intake constant. This means eating something like an omelette with spinach instead of a carb-loaded breakfast.

Of course, we don't want to catabolize our muscles and end up like someone who just went on a Weight Watchers diet. When it comes time to train, you should therefore include carbohydrates in your diet to maximize your recovery.

The study

One study found that 50 grams of carbohydrates in a training drink consumed during a resistance training session completely eliminated the increase in cortisol levels compared to a control drink. The subjects in this study with the lowest cortisol levels - and the greatest gains in muscle mass - were all from the group that consumed the carbohydrate drink, while the subjects with the highest cortisol levels showed the smallest gains in muscle mass. (One subject from the placebo group even lost muscle mass over the course of the study).

The solution

You should use a training drink that contains fast-digesting carbohydrates and fast-digesting EAAs that activate protein synthesis. After training, when your muscles are most receptive to carbohydrates, you should consume complex carbohydrates - and maybe even some "fun carbs" in moderate amounts.

References

1. Tarpenning, K.M., Influence of weight training exercise and modification of hormonal response on skeletal muscle growth. J Sci Med Sport. 2001 Dec;4(4):431-46.1997.

Don't use muscle soreness to evaluate the effectiveness of your training sessions

You can get sore muscles but still not make progress - and you can make progress without getting sore muscles. Here are the facts

By Christian Thibaudeau

Source: https://www.t-nation.com/training/tip-dont-use-soreness-to-judge-workout-effectiveness

The facts:

1. Getting sore muscles after a workout with weights doesn't necessarily mean you had a good training session that will lead to gains.
2. Even if you don't have sore muscles after a workout, it doesn't mean that your training session wasn't optimal.
3. However, if you don't at least have a tight feeling in the muscles you worked out, then it's quite possible that your training session wasn't as effective as it could have been.
4. Excessive muscle soreness can cause performance issues by reducing flexibility and/or strength. Excessive muscle soreness can therefore affect the productivity of a training session.

Can I train a muscle that is still sore?

There are varying degrees of muscle soreness. Sometimes a muscle will only feel a little tight without any muscle swelling. The muscle will just feel and look a little harder than usual. There may be some tenderness, but there is no real loss of flexibility or strength.

At other times, the soreness can be so debilitating that your mobility and strength are seriously limited. In this case, the soreness becomes limiting and it would be a mistake to train this muscle hard in this condition.

If the soreness is not so intense that it impairs your capacity to train at an adequate level, it is entirely possible - and even advisable - to train the muscle intensely. Why? Because increased blood flow and nutrient transport to that muscle can accelerate recovery. Performing an active recovery training session the day after an intensive training session is very effective.

By active recovery training session, I mean a pump workout for the muscle where you feel soreness - a light workout that focuses on the quality of the contractions and achieving a pump. This will not further damage the tissue, but will speed up the rate of recovery and repair by increasing nutrient uptake and protein synthesis. In addition, such training has a variety of other benefits that include cytokines and the repair process.

One idea is to do a hard strength workout with a basic exercise one day and then do some isolation training for the same muscles at the beginning of the next day's training session.

Test yourself with Renegade Rows (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wTqlJ0aoJlM)

This will tell you a lot about your strength and athleticism

By Joel Seedman, PhD

Source: https://www.t-nation.com/training/tip-test-yourself-with-the-renegade-row

Having the right balance of strength between the front and back of your body is crucial for performance, posture and power. Renegade rows can help you test this.

How to perform renegade rows

Renegade rows are one of the few all-in-one exercises that require such fine balance. When performed correctly, this exercise is a combination of back strength, core stability, anti-rotation, shoulder stability, lumbar spine-pelvis control and hip stability. Renegade Rows eliminate the ability to use excessive momentum, rotation and forceful movements from the back commonly seen in rowing movements.

Your score

If you are unable to perform this exercise with 80 to 90% of the weight you use in single arm dumbbell rowing, or if you are unable to use a weight that matches your bodyweight (a 90 kilo exerciser would use two 45 kilo dumbbells), then you are likely lacking strength and function in the areas mentioned previously.

If you need to significantly reduce the weight compared to what you typically use in rowing, then you should improve your technique in rowing and learn to control the weight

Source: https://www.t-nation.com/training/tip-do-the-skater-squat-to-get-stronger

By Bret Contreras

This guide covers the following topics:

• What kind of training is needed for Strongman competitions?
• How you should choose your Strongman competition.
• What items to include in your training bag.
• How to deal with training related injuries.
• What are the 9 main Strongman disciplines and how are they performed?

Introduction

This guide is designed to introduce you to the sport of Strongman. In this guide I will describe training methods, how to prepare for competitions, what criteria you should use to choose a competition and what you should do at such a competition. This guide is not intended to be exhaustive, but more of an introduction to the sport.

What is the strongman sport?

What exactly is this sport? In many ways, strongman sport is a kind of time travel back to the days of circus athletes and traveling strength athletes. Strongman is a strength sport, but unlike weightlifting and powerlifting, the competition disciplines vary greatly. In strongman competitions, you may have to perform deadlifts log presses or overhead axle presses on reps after a max attempt. Or you may have to perform partial repetitions of squats with hundreds of kilos or a deep squat with maximum weight and then run with relatively light objects. Strongman is a brutal display of physical strength, endurance and willpower.

We've all seen superhuman-looking mass monsters on TV lifting enormous stones and pulling entire trains. Compare this to the weightlifting you've seen at the Olympics or the powerlifting you've seen at competitions and you'll begin to understand what makes this sport so unique. Variety. Just being strong at a few exercises is not enough to be successful. You need to be strong, have the right technique and be able to adapt to whatever is asked of you.

This leads us to what can be a hugely important issue - the mentality of a strongman. To enjoy the sport, you need to be adaptable, dynamic and a little crazy. Sane people simply don't do deadlifts with cars on reps. Most people stop when they get calluses on their hands. You have to want to succeed so badly that you ignore the pain to learn every event that may come and you have to go beyond failure. If that sounds like fun to you, then I have a sport for you. And keep in mind that this is not just a sport for men. There are plenty of strongwomen too!

Before you start strongman training

When you start looking into this sport, you should keep the following in mind: You need to be strong. This may sound more than obvious, but if you don't have a solid strength base, you will most likely injure yourself during training or competition. Aside from the safety aspect, it takes a tremendous amount of strength to lift a car or pull a truck.

If you're not already doing squats at 140 kilos, bench presses at 100 kilos and deadlifts at 180 kilos, then you should spend a few more months on a solid beginner program to develop the strength you need to really train for this sport. I promise you that it will be much more fun if you can do at least one repetition of each exercise.

Can you already do squats, bench presses and deadlifts with weights beyond my minimum requirements? And believe me, these are absolute minimums. Then the next question is what your fitness level is like. If you're already out of breath by the time you've got another pack of bacon out of the fridge, how are you going to manage to run with 300+ kilos on your back or lift barrels into a truck?

You don't have to be in the top 10 in a 5000 meter run, but you should have some basic fitness, otherwise you won't be able to recover sufficiently between events in a competition - let alone perform well in an event over a maximum distance with a heavy weight.

The good news is that strongman training is an excellent workout for your cardiovascular condition in itself. Recent studies have even shown that it is superior to traditional cardio training when it comes to burning fat and maintaining existing muscle mass.

Last but not least, you should know what you are getting yourself into. It's a rough and tough sport. You will hurt yourself. You're going to drop something heavy on your foot, sprain your ankle, tear a muscle fiber in your leg, sprain your spine, get a nasty sunburn, pull your hamstring, dislocate your shoulder, hurt your biceps or whatever. One or all of these things can happen to you.

But it's no worse than American football, basketball or MMA. If these disciplines sound like fun to you and if you love heavy weights and being strong in every aspect, then this is your sport. If you just want to be muscular and bulky but are afraid to do deadlifts because your mom's fitness trainer said it's bad for your back, then do some self-discovery and think about opening a vegan tapas store or taking up knitting.

Choosing a strongman competition

You've made it this far. You've decided that you'd like to be a strongman. Go to one of the strongman websites, choose a competition, sign up and put together your plan.

I would suggest you pick a competition now rather than training for a discipline, as most readers probably don't have easy access to a real weight room. Most commercial gyms will not be able to provide you with the specialized equipment you need. Research your competition options and find out what disciplines are required. Find a nearby competition that plays to your strengths. Find something with heavy pulls if that's easy for you. The same goes for strong pushers - find a competition with heavy pushing disciplines.

I save specific training for different disciplines for a later area as this will become extensive. The sheer number of different disciplines will make this section grow quickly and I would rather you use this section as a reference than go through it here.

Strongman Competition Preparation

This is not bodybuilding. No one here is interested in your six-pack. For your first competition, you don't need to worry about definition, mass gain, body recomposition, weight classes or anything along those lines. Train, eat, regenerate and get strong. Of course, that's no excuse to get hugely fat and it's also no excuse to stop eating as much as you need to. Just relax and train like an animal.

I've covered this before, but here it is again. Use this time to get as strong as you can. Your descending sets of leg extensions with 37 reps are completely useless at this point. Spend your time and energy in the weight room training with heavy barbell basic exercises. Squats, presses and deadlifts. Train for repetitions and maximum single attempts. Train barbell curls and hammer curls. What? Curls? Yes, train curls. Don't overdo it, but ignoring your biceps is a great way to tighten them up.

If you train properly, you should be exhausted and ravenous after your session (okay, it may take an hour or two for the nausea to fade and you to get hungry, but it will happen). This is not the time for chicken breasts and broccoli, as long as you don't garnish them with cheese, bacon and more cheese. You need food. Within reason of course, but if you're eating 2000 kcal a day during a Strongman race prep, you better be a 150 cm tall woman.

I want to see you eating at least 3000 kcal per day in the form of good quality food such as poultry, minced meat, rice, potatoes, good cheese, bacon, butter and lots of vegetables. Personally, I stop at 3000 kcal a day and it feels restrictive to eat so little - so I don't want to hear any moaning about how hard it is to eat so much. No one is forcing you to eat. Be admirable or don't.

Practice the exercises/movements as often as possible. If you know there will be a deadlift from a height of 45 centimeters at your competition, load a trap bar with 300 kilos and perform deadlifts from blocks. Try a fat grip bar if you don't have access to an axle. Wrap towels around a Swiss bar (see below) to mimic a yoke (log) for pressing and perform farmer's walks with dumbbells if that's all that's within your reach. Do whatever it takes to get used to the disciplines you will face.

Consider doing these exercises on a weekend day, separate from your training. However, be careful not to overextend yourself. You may need to reduce the volume of your standard training program during competition preparation.

Your first Strongman competition

You've chosen your competition, you've trained hard, you've eaten well and today is your big day. Today you become a strongman. But let's go back in time 24 hours and go through some of the things you should do, what you shouldn't do and what you should bring to your competition.

Eat normally the day and evening before the competition. Don't overeat and don't eat anything unusual. The last thing you want is stomach problems during the deadlift. Don't worry about your weight on competition day. Save it for your third or fourth competition. Pack your bag the night before. Here is a list of things I would recommend:

The minimum kit

• Weightlifting belt - a good solid belt is always a good idea
• Bandages - wrist and knee bandages if you are using them
• Grip aids - This is not the time for demagoguery - you can move more weight with them, so use them
• Chalk/talc - Improves your grip and friction on your back during yoke walks
• Shoes - Forget your chucks! Pack something with good grip
• Water - no less than 2 liters
• Food - Strongman competitions can last a long time. Bring some protein bars and a sandwich

Sensible things

• Sunscreen
• Extra clothing
• Warm clothing for competitions during fall and winter
• Extra underwear
• A first aid kit
• Ammonia
• Painkillers

Advanced items

• Squat suit
• Deadlift suit
• Deadlift shoes
• Climbing shoes
• Heavy hiking boots
• Baby powder

Make sure you pack at least the minimum equipment and I can only recommend that you also take the items on the sensible items list. Most people reading this don't need to worry about the items on the advanced items list, but if you have specific equipment for powerlifting training then you can of course take this with you if your competition allows its use. Remember to check the rules!

Okay, we're back on competition day. Get there early. Don't worry about your weight, just show up healthy. Relax. This is going to be a long day - save your energy and frenzy for the actual disciplines. Listen to the rules being gone over at the athletes' meeting and don't be afraid to ask questions. Play around with the equipment if you can. This is much easier if you show up early. But don't exhaust yourself. And last but not least: Have fun and give it your all!

After the competition

Congratulations, you've made it. It doesn't matter whether you came first or last or whether you looked like a Jack Russell Terrier pulling on a pillow during the tire flip. You took a chance and you got through it. And now go and eat something. I recommend your favorite pizzeria. 2 large pizzas and one for the way home. Or whatever you like to eat. Have a good time, eat a lot, laugh with friends, relive the good parts.

After you've finished celebrating, it's time to analyze your strengths and weaknesses. Was your push as good as you thought? Did you manage the tire flip with the 300 kilo tire with ease? Go through the competition discipline by discipline - preferably on video if possible. Learn from it. And then take a week off from training. Just eat and regenerate. You will be dead tired and injury prone straight after a competition - recover and let your body heal before you go back to training. Then choose your next competition and start training again.

What happens after this?

After your competition, you have many options. If you're like me, you'll have numbers and programs running through your head and you won't know what to do for a week or so. This will pass and the fire will quickly return. Then you have some options on how to continue.

Stay strongman

If you enjoyed the competition and the disciplines and want to continue training in this way - great - I'm glad another dedicated athlete has found their way into the sport. However, don't expect me to make it easy for you now. Keep in mind that you have chosen one of the hardest sports to train for. Look for strongman and powerlifter weight rooms in your area. If there are none, have your own equipment made and open your own weight room - or move. If you're serious about this sport, you'll do whatever it takes.

Start with powerlifting

If you enjoyed the static strength disciplines but didn't like all that running around and think you should try powerlifting, then do it! Powerlifting requires less specialized equipment, which is especially true for the beginner stage, so finding a decent gym or weight room will be a little easier - though not much easier.

Go for bodybuilding

Strongman is an excellent way to do conditioning training for bodybuilding. If strongman competitions are not for you, but you like to be muscular and defined, then enter a bodybuilding competition.

Go home

If you're not cut out for weightlifting competitions, that's okay too. There's nothing wrong with just working out in the gym to develop a good body and stay active. However, if I catch you doing curls on my squat rack, then God bless you ;-).

How you should deal with injuries

Whole books could be written on this topic and I'm sure they already have been. Here is a quick and brief treatment of the topic. There are a number of injuries that you can sustain in strongman sports. I'll go through some of the severities of injuries and give you recommendations on what to do and what you should do.

Very minor:

• Skin abrasions on the shins during deadlifts
• Curse quietly to yourself (there may be children present) and wash it off if you can

Minor:

• A pulled muscle, a broken finger, a cracked tooth
• As above, but find the broken piece of tooth for your trophy collection. Treat the injury with ice later

Moderate:

• Minor muscle (fiber) tears, sprains, dislocations
• Ice, pressure, painkillers. Consider not competing again until you are fully ready to set a new best performance

Seriously:

• A torn muscle, a torn tendon, a compound fracture
• As above. Withdraw from competition until you are ready to set a national or world record

In the second part of this article, I will discuss the most important disciplines in strongman competitions and explain what you need to pay attention to.

Source: https://www.muscleandstrength.com/expert-guides/strongman-training