strongman

"Strongman" in one word is not to be confused with "strong man". A strongman is an adept of a strength sport born in 1977 (the very first World's Strongest Man) and that now has athletes all around the world. A strongman competition features different events that all test the athlete's strength and stamina in a great variety of ways. It may be to walk a certain distance carrying very heavy handles in both hands (farmer's walk), to pull a truck, to lift round stones on podiums (the atlas stones), to press an axle or some other implement overhead for a max single or max reps... There are many more kinds of events. You also see standard barbell lifts, often the deadlift, done for a max weight or max reps.

The strongman needs to be extremely strong in the basic movement patterns, sturdy enough to endure the relentless, cumulative punishment of several taxing events done over the same day or even two days in a row, and fit enough to perform well in a fatigued state. The media give more exposure to the giant men competing in the World's Strongest Man, but there are different weight classes. And there are competitions for strongwomen as well!

I had been lifting for about two years when I stumbled into an ad for a strongman meet. I went over there and had an awesome day, carrying, pulling and dragging very heavy stuff. I caught the strongman bug there!

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