The whole premise of strongman is almost unnatural. The ability that it takes to become strong and have endurance to do multiple events of varying skills is rather impressive. It is always a privilege to help at multiple types of events every year. What has really been the enjoyable part is becoming friends with the competitors and watching them improve and really find new areas that they excel in.
Controlled Chaos
Strongman training if viewed from the outside may look rather chaotic. However there is a method to the training for sure. I have said it before that most of the movements at lower loads or intensities seem much more applicable to the everyday human. The ability to pick up weight and carry it for distance is ingrained into humans. While not all events apply, much of the strengthening of the person is much more broad in nature than overly specific.
There are a few things that do seem to be experienced by strongman at some time. Bruises and scrapes and falls are all possible. As per joint and muscle health yes we see the possibility for muscular strains. But with proper training that risk goes down. Joint health needs to be maintained just as much for strongman as it does for all of us.
Warm ups before Big Movements
For any of my athletes that I begin seeing for whatever reason, we go over what training warm ups entail. Meaning joint and muscular tissue preparedness are highly important. When performing rehab after an injury the warm up is just as important. We focus especially on having as much controllable joint space for the joints involved in that day’s training as much as possible. Here is a video giving you an example of what treatment is like.
Without getting too wordy, just range of motion control allows the athlete the ability to access more muscular tissue and therefore create more force production because of it.
For the strongman athlete because of the variety in events and needs of the body we cannot accommodate to any one range of motion. Meaning you have the need to be strong in so many different positions. Think of the shoulder for a moment. In one event you might be throwing overhead or the next may be a hand over hand pull, then a car deadlift. The shoulder must be strong and perform in a wide variety of positions.
Gotta keep you all at your Best
Stongman athletes and competitors are an underserved population. It is my goal to fix that and to provide both pain relief and joint health and preparedness for training and competition. This is not something that I have seen as provided by other clinicians. What does this mean? You have a place where goals of the athlete and practitioner match, to have you train and lift and compete at your highest. If you hear me say rest it or stop then it most likely is serious. With that said I am here to help you.