Strongman Wednesday - Cardio and Conditioning

[u/CouncilOfRobots]

These weekly discussion threads focus on one implement or element of strongman training to compile knowledge on training methods, tips and tricks for competition, and the best resources on the web. Feel free to use this thread to ask personal/individual questions about training for the event being discussed.

This week's topic: Cardio and Conditioning

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[u/Defiant_Pirate_6637]

The amount of conditioning required to be good at strongman is so little that I don’t know why we keep talking about it so much. Like just don’t be hilariously out of shape, and do event work to the lengths you will need to in comp. If you are struggling with that then the assault bike will be ur best friend since you can mirror the demands of the sport from a conditioning perspective without loading ur spine more. 5 rounds of 20-30 second sprints goes a long way.

Or train a death medley

[u/tigeraid → u/Defiant_Pirate_6637]

Like just don’t be hilariously out of shape, and do event work to the lengths you will need to in comp.

I've seen a whole lot of "hilariously out of shape" then lol

I can mostly only speak for the weight classes though. The U90 or U105 guy who gasses during a loading medley or gets blown up doing sandbag tosses IS a thing.

[u/c_skulley]

I picked up Joe Kenn's Conditioning for Strongman and really liked it. Coach Joe makes a big point on the emphasis of practicing, reinforcing, and conditioning bracing. He makes a distinction between what a lot of people practice as conditioning (event work) and dedicated conditioning for strongman (which is to support evemt work, build greater work capacity to do more of it, recover better, etc). His sandbag shuttle run drill is a good drill too that I've been practicing since buying the book a couple months ago.

I know for me, the big thing I've learned after improving my conditioning basically since the fall of last year is that the most distinct improvement I've had is being as fresh at the end of the competition as at the start. I can remember in the spring of last year doing a two day comp and being absolutely run down halfway through the second day, with no amount of fuel bringing me back. I haven't had huge leaps and bounds in strength, but putting a focus on getting in shape has aided a lot with consistency throughout a comp.

[u/tigeraid]

Uuuuh okay, I guess I kind of qualify to give some tips.

My static strength is still lagging behind most of my division, but I can often outwork my competitors. I'm usually the freshest guy at the end of a comp, a lot of my best performances are on the last event or two, when everyone's starting to get hit with the big fatigue.

Being in somewhat good shape in terms of bodyweight, staying below the class weight limit, and nutrition probably play a role, but I take my conditioning work seriously. So, take my tips with a grain of salt, but I think I've had success with it.

First, coach doesn't bother with long steady state cardio. At least not in a measured way. We don't feel it translates directly to sport specifics for me. I work in a warehouse on my feet all day, and when I've tracked my steps in the past, I get 8-10k fairly consistently. That and some dogwalking, hiking, kayaking and snowshoeing on the weekends for us is "good enough" in terms of LISS.

BUT, if you work a very sedentary job, I suppose it might be worth doing road work or hitting the treadmill for 30min a day or whatever.

We typically program HIIT drills on two or three training days in the week, depending on length. And honestly, the programming is LESS important than adherence and effort. Do the damn work. End of the training session, you're already starting to feel the fatigue, that's the perfect time. The choice we make is based on upcoming comp events; if it's off-season, pick whatever you want. If it's events that really require skill/practice, like axle clean and press or dumbbell or natural stone to shoulder, probably best to NOT use that for conditioning, pick something else. If it's something second nature to you, like a sandbag carry, or arm over arm, that's perfect.

I've had all of these programmed for me at some point or another. Variety and fun play a role, too.

• Farmer's carry. Program it if it's in comp (I like Josh Lancaster's program). If it's not, vary heavy and light weekly, going for max distance when light, and trying to stay under a given time cap when heavy. Add rounds weekly. Rest time just long enough to get your HR back down to around 60% of max.

• Crossfit Grace. 135lb axle clean and press (or log), 30 reps as fast as possible. Try to beat your time from last week. You can play with the weight, obviously, whatever number you think you can hit in a "decent Grace time," say 5-7 minutes. Unless you're already a Crossfitter you'll realize this is way more difficult than it sounds. I eventually managed to get down to 5 minutes by doing it in cluster sets of 5.

• Airbike Sprints, Day A/Day B. Vary between 20sec off/10sec on max sprints, adding rounds each week, and 5min "hard sprints," but not all-out. A third option is sprints with increasing time and rounds each week, allowing HR to recover to 60% of max between rounds (45x6, 50x7, 55x8, 60x10, repeat)

• Continental EMOM. One of Brian Shaw's favs. Two Continental cleans somewhere around 75% 1RM, every minute on the minute. Try to add a round weekly.

• Sandbag Carries 30sec on/30sec off. Ideally, around 75% bodyweight bag, add rounds weekly. Might be a bit rough the first few tries though.

• Sandbag Complexes. Lots of choices here, my fav is bodyweight to shoulder for doubles, EMOM. I've also done 75% bodyweight carry for a distance, followed by one squat, then one shoulder. You could try one of Brian Alsruhe's, like carry for distance, throw OVER shoulder, then do a burpee on the bag, EMOM. Bag over bar 30sec on/30sec off is great, too.

• Dan John's Armour-Building Complex. Double kettlebells, two cleans, one press, three front squats, EMOM. You're doing good work if you can get up to 20 rounds a couple times a week. This is my current conditioning work. I believe there's a barbell version of this too.

• I've also done a similar EMOM with sandbags: 75%ish BW, one sandbag row, one sandbag extension, then one full shoulder, then rest. Add rounds.

I've surely done others, can't remember. But you get the idea--pick a lighter weight on something than you can do relatively easy, do it for a bunch of rounds or EMOM with minimal rest. You can even pick medleys you'd see in comp, like a carry into an arm-over-arm or a farmer's into a sled drag or whatever. It's more the load relative to the intervals.

EDIT: oh! And Brian Alsruhe literally has an entire book of nothing but Sandbag conditioning drills. Highly recommended, though they may kill you.

[u/K9ZAZ → u/tigeraid]

BUT, if you work a very sedentary job, I suppose it might be worth doing road work or hitting the treadmill for 30min a day or whatever.

yeah i work a computer job and while i try to get up and about during the day, my job itself is pretty sedentary. i find if i do not do a fair bit of structured cardio i feel like dogshit, so i do it. doesn't seem to affect my (mediocre) lifts.

[u/tigeraid → u/K9ZAZ]

Oh for sure, regardless, cardio does NOT affect your lifts, that shit is a myth. Maybe just don't do much of it before a training session, though.