Do you want to get strong?

So let’s get down to the basics, how do I you become a strongman athlete. Now here are some basic strength levels that I think all budding strongmen should be able to meet.
Squat 200kg
Bench 120kg
Deadlift 200kg
Press 80kg
Curl 50kg

Now you’re not going to win The World’s Strongest Man with these lifts but you will with the correct training be able to put on a good show in a regional event. Now some of you are going to say, I can lift much more than that, but can you apply that strength in a strongman competition.

We all know guys who can lift some huge weights in the gym, but when it comes to lifting odd objects like stones, barrels or cars they just can’t apply that strength that they have. Time and again I have seen barbell athletes entering events thinking they going to crush the opposition and coming absolutely nowhere, gym strength doesn’t cut it on the strongman circuit you need to be really strong, functionally strong.

So how do you get really strong, how do you turn that gym strength into real strength. In the gym you have nice barbells and dumbbells, easy to grip and hold onto so that it is easier to demonstrate you strength. The main stumbling block to showing real strength is lack of hand and forearm power, if you can’t hold onto it you’ll not lift it. If you can lift up two 150kg farmers walk barrels and carry them for 100 meters in less than 30 seconds then you can skip the rest of this article. Otherwise…

Lets get down to those exercises you need to add to your training to get real strong, strong enough to lift cars, throw the stones of strength around like marbles. Now you can follow Ian Kings rules and add these exercises in at the beginning of your routine or you can do them separately from your main training.