That’s right. Similar to the MET-RX competitions seen on ESPN 2 at 10pm or later during the week. Strongman training is an excellent method of building “Functional” or transferable strength for greater on field performances. Not to be confused with functional strength gimmicks such as balance boards, wobble boards, and various “Sport Specific” resisted movement patterns, functional strongman training builds muscles, tendons, joint strength, and increases bone density.

            These exercises are modified to meet the needs of the client and the sport they are participating. In many sports, the ability to withstand anterior/posterior and lateral impacts is common. Many strongman exercises address this, while training the athlete’s alactic (CP/ATP energy system) and lactic capacity.

            Exactly how does strongman training carryover to sports performance? According to renowned Strength Coach Joe Defranco “the beauty of strongman training is that there’s no one way to perform the exercises. Athletes usually end up improvising to complete the event. The tire doesn’t always flip over the same way. The sled doesn’t always glide easily over the surface. The awkwardness of these events builds true “functional” strength from head to toe. This enables the athlete to strengthen muscles that are nearly impossible to strengthen with traditional training (1)”.  Following is a list of 10 of the top reasons why an athlete should include strongman training in their exercise routine.

1.    Development of Lower Back Strength: Try this. Have your workout partner or teammate stand at arm’s length. Place your hand on your stomach and have your partner lightly push you from the front or side. Did you feel your abs powerfully contract? Possibly not. Now try the same with your hand on your low back. You should have felt a powerful contraction of the low back musculature. Not only will a strong low back keep your risk of injury to a minimum, but it will also help in balance, stabilization, and impact absorption, among other benefits.

 

2.    Strengthening of joints and tendons: With stronger joints and tendons an athlete decreases the risk of injury while simultaneously increasing the ability to generate more force. With the neuromuscular system capable of generating more force, the athlete will notice increases in acceleration, deceleration, and power dominant sporting activities.

 

3.    Increased alactic and lactic power and capacity: Talk about killing 2 birds with one stone. Strongman training increases both the ability to generate great levels of force as well as increasing an athlete’s anaerobic energy system. Both are performance variables seen most all team sports.  Rather than long slow distance cardio bouts which can be very damaging due to their repetitive nature, strongman training builds the energy system while preserving the body.

 

4.    Development of powerful hip extensors: Jumping, accelerating, throwing, punching, kicking….you name it, powerful hip extensor muscles will increase the force production of these movements. In NFL and college recruiting combines, the scouts typically test a minimum of 3 hip extension dominant activities: the vertical jump, the 40 yard dash, and the pro agility. Each of these involves powerful hip extensor activity. Looking at most any sport, there is typically some degree of hip extensor power necessary optimal performance.

5.    Structural Balance: What a great way to train the muscles that aren’t seen in mirror. With so much time spent on bench pressing, curls, quads, and abs, strongman training places a great degree of emphasis on the posterior chain muscles (those not seen in the mirror). This will help to create balance between posterior and anterior antagonistic muscle groups. (There is still a need for structural balance weight training such as external rotator and mid trapezius).

  

6.    Increased ankle integrity: Walking/jogging with an unbalanced or awkward load can place great amounts of compressive force on the ankle structure. Think of the HUMV commercials in which the vehicle’s suspension is seen going over rocky obstacles, flexing and absorbing force in all directions to maintain stability. The human ankle works in the same fashion. Adding functional resistance from strongman apparatus’ increases this compressive force, thus strengthening the musculature around the ankle and increasing the integrity of the joint.

 

7.    Strengthening the Core Musculature: The core is not just the anterior section (abs) which can be seen in the mirror. It is made of the hip-pelvic-lumbo complex musculature. This includes the muscles of the front, side and back. To stabilize the torso during any of the strongman exercises, there needs to be great degree of core musculature activation. From tire flipping to farmer’s carries, your core musculature will strengthen to a far greater functional capacity than typically performed sit-ups, crunches and planks.

  

8.    Increased muscular endurance: Muscular endurance plays a role in many team sports. The ability to generate force over consecutive and non-consecutive bouts distinguishes which competitors succeed and which fail.

 

9.    Grip Strength: From throwing a football or baseball to rebounding a basketball and tackling an opponent, the strength of one’s grip plays an often overlooked, yet intricate part in the success of these events. The strength of one’s grip has even been linked to ones overall strength and health.

 

10. Mental toughness: Pat Riley once said “if you are not getting better, you’re getting worse”. The only way to achieve success is the ability to endure no matter how difficult the activity. With this perseverance comes mental toughness. After one or two difficult strongman training sessions, an athlete quickly realizes it takes mental toughness to complete this type of workout

APECS has one of the most complete training centers in the area with a full complement of Strongman Equipment which can be used indoors or outdoors (weather permitting). Unlike most facilities which must rely on good weather for strongman training, APECS has a 15X30 yard turf area which is dedicated to strongman and acceleratory activities. The following are just some of the equipment APECS utilizes in their strongman protocols

  • Full set of Atlas Stones: 160-280lbs

  • 5 Tires ranging from 100lbs to 600lbs

  • 2.5 inch (thickness) pulling rope

  • 3 Dragging Sleds

  • Super Yoke

  • Adjustable Weight Pressing Log

  • 4 kegs (empty to full)

  • Elite Fitness Prowler

  • Farmer Carry Handles

  • 3 Sledgehammers

  • Kettlebell pairs 8kg to 52kg

 

1. Defranco, J. Strongman training for athletes. www.defrancotraining.com and www.t-nation.com