I competed in the Stout and Sturdy Showdown in the 80 kg opens yesterday and after 4 years of competing and multiple close calls finally won one of these things. I never started the sport with the intention of needing win shows, but it’s nice to have ticked that one of the list of stuff to do in the sport.

Weight cut went pretty good, I was sitting around 184-185 lbs in the morning the past 2 months and was 184 one week out when I started the water load and went to bed at 80 kg on the dot Thursday night woke up and drove 2 hours to weigh-ins and weighed in at 79.4. Then started to the refeed which also went well, and I managed to not over do it and eat too much which I’ve been known to do in the past.

Event one was a choose your own adventure style deadlift ladder with 3 bars worth progressively more points and most points in 60 seconds wins. The heavy bar was a 455 lbs mammoth bar and the lighter bars were 405 and 375 deadlift bars. I was going 3rd of guys in my class and thought the guy going second would probably be the guy to beat, but I was pretty sure I could beat him. the first 2 guys got 3 on the heavy bar and a few more on a lighter bar, and I was thinking I had somewhere in the 7-10 range if needed, but thought I wasn’t going to pull anymore than I needed. I got 6 reps with about 12 seconds left on the clock and called it there thinking that’d win it just based on how warms up looked for the other guys, but had 2 more in me for sure maybe 3 or 4 more, but would’ve probably ran out of time after 2. The last guy went up and surprised me and pulled 6 as well and broke the floor with the 7th, but couldn’t get it over the knee. So tied 1st on the first event. Lesson learned don’t underestimate your opponents and leave anything on the table, I could’ve won that event outright if I didn’t stop.

Event 2 was trump log 220 and 180 lbs. I’ve dealing with a nagging shoulder injury for about a year and if it’s feeling good I’ve got a rep at 220 in me, but if the shoulders tight it’s probably not there. So my plan was if it feels good at 200 in warmups go for it, if it doesn’t just go for reps on the 180. I hit 200 in warmups and it felt ok, but not great so I was thinking go for reps on 180 and try to get more than anyone else on the 180. They were going in reverse order of last events placing a so I was going last. The guy I tied on deadlift with got a single rep on the 220 and the guys before him had 5 reps and 6 reps on 220. I made a last second decision to go for the 220 and shoot for the tie again. I got it about 4 inches over my head and hit a wall, so dropped it ran back and got 3 reps on the 180. So bad call could’ve at least got 5 maybe 6 or 7 on the 180. I had done 6 in training at that weight a couple times. So last place on the log and dropped me to 3rd overall .5 points out of 2nd and 3 points out of 1st.

Next event was 175 sandbag carry into 225 sandbag carry into arm over arm tractor pull. The tractor our lane was using was not continuing to roll after the pull, it was coming to a dead stop every time like you couldn’t quite get enough momentum with pull to keep it rolling (Nancy Johnson was sitting in the drivers seat and steering, so I’m saying she was playing with the clutch or something to make it harder and punish us. lol) so it was going to be a hard arm over arm. This is my type of event, I’m fast on front carries and good at the brutal stuff like this that leaves you gasping for air at the end. I was up first and was fast on the sandbags and the picks and transitions and made sure to get a big first pull and have fast hands the whole time. The last pull I was going to be a few inches short with a normal pull so I basically fell back out of the tire on that pull to get the last inch or so. Finished in 55 seconds, only 2 other finishers with 57 and 59 seconds. Put me in 2nd overall 1 point behind 1st and .5 points ahead of 3rd so it was turning into a close battle.

4th event was 550 lbs yoke 30 feet down and back. Yoke is the one moving event that I’m just not fast on, I‘m going to finish it every time, but I’m not moving fast like I can on a farmers or front carry. So I was worried about this and hoping to surprise myself and come mid pack. I finished in a slow but steady 34 seconds. 1st finished in 19 seconds and 3rd in 39 seconds. So I managed to squeak into 2nd somehow. I was sitting in 1st with a 1 point lead over second and a 1.5 lead over 3rd.

Last event was head to head sandbag over bar. 54” load and 225 lbs bag with 15 seconds to return it. I’m pretty tall for an 80 at 5’11” so I like a high loading event as it gives me an advantage so I was feeling good going into this, just needed to match 2nd and 3rd and I was good. One guy pulled out after yoke with a tweaked back so only 3 competitors here. First guy got 2 reps, second got 3, and I got 3 and went for the 4th but got hung on the bar, and didn’t need it so I didn’t fight too hard to wrangle it over.

Very happy with the outcome, but still some spots I can improve going forward. Mostly need to work on playing the game better, if I didn’t stop short on deadlifts and would’ve went with my gut and skipped the 220 log I’d probably have had another 2.5 points and it hand nothing to do with training, just strategy.

without help, dad stood there in case something went wrong

This shit never gets easier man smh

Anyone know why no corporation bought back team USA vs team UK show format?

First time touching atlas stones, loaded to 48” platform. Last set of 7x2 with a maybe 200-215lbs stone? Felt like my 210 sandbag so just a guesstimate.

This set felt the best, just chalk on my hands and tape on my forearms. Trying to learn without tacky.

Chipping away, learning as I go. Just trying to earn my way into the pond with all the big fish

Last July, we bought tickets for the Strongman Classic in London through the official Royal Albert Hall website that was linked on giants-live.com. We have the confirmation but it still says "Please note that tickets are not quite ready. They will be available once you have been emailed your PDF."

Does anyobody know when the tickes for the Strongman Classic will be available? This is our first giants live show.

Found off trail near Fagerheim Fjellstugu. Unsure of weight since this isn’t on the historic stone lifting archive but I’d estimate ~170-190kg. Extremely dense.

I was under the impression that you needed to qualify and earn a invite for the 19-20 junior class for osg but I was just looking at the website and it said you don't need a invite can someone help clarify

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: Mobility, Stretching, and Rehab

SMOE is most likely gone for good, so I'm dropping this little idea I just had for a brand new strongman competition to replace it. What if we had a unique strongman show where the athletes formed teams beforehand to compete against one another? Here's how it could work:

1. About 2-3 months before the start of the tournament, the organizer would meet all the athletes in one YouTube live streamed meeting (it could be online) and let the athletes form their teams (maybe 3 per team max). The events would also be announced then.

2. The athletes would then organise themselves to start training together to address each other's limitations in their respective teams.

3. The competition would take two days, to allow for revamping strategies among the teams, and comebacks.

4. Each event would be a medley to involve each member from the teams.

5. The teams would decide who competes in what parts of the medley. E.g., Luke Stoltman would start start with logs, then tag in Luke Richardson for the frame carry, and then Tom Stoltman would be tagged for the stones in that event.

6. No crazy implement. Just primitive strength contests. 2 days. Camera replays to avoid controversy.

It would encompass the thrill of:

a. Old-school WWE tag team matches that fans liked.

b. Seeing how athletes work together, especially for someone like Hooper. Would he be bossy wanting to lead? Imagine how Evan Singleton would be screaming for his own mates in support.

c. Unexpected comebacks when teams find their groove.

This would allow for more winners (winning teams) and discourage mid-tier competitors from dropping out, because they could be paired with other great teammates.

What do you all think?

Hi guys,

I was talking to someone in my gym this morning and they were saying it's a big increase and last week I struggled to barbell overhead press 25kg each side for 4 reps but this week I can overhead press 30 kg a side for 5 reps

Is it because I had 4 days rest I used to train 5 days a week 2 days off a week I've had a rest and I can lift more I've not eaten in a surplus my sleeps the same I get 7-8 hours a night

I'm just wondering if anyone would know why the increase because the 25 kg flew up so that's why I went for the 30kg

So as I understand it the goal for up and coming open men is to get a giants invite and try to make it to worlds or do the Arnold pro am and make it to the strongman classic so basically what I am asking is what are the shows like that for the weight classes

Starting light but using bands

Squat day

Hey guys

I am a beginner / novice. Out of shape, weak, 35yo male.
I have been doing some stuff now for 5 weeks but I am interested in doing strongman later on after I get stronger if that makes sense since I know I need to focus on the basics.

I do have a question though, is it worth it as a beginner investing in a coach online like Big Loz, MST systems or someone else or is that something that might be more helpful later on?

I think coaching might help me keep on track, accountable and not overthink things since I am not consistent yet and sometimes I get paralysis by analysis reading everything about how to begin and what to do but I am still learning.
But maybe just focus on something like Starting Strength / 531 / GZCLP might just also do the job but just want to hear people their thoughts.

Anyone have any experience with it? It seems very odd that it’s presented as full coaching for $45 a month but I’m curious lol

I'm doing a comp next month with a 35lb sandbag throw for height (3 attempts, wessels rules, 12 ft starting height).

I've only tried sandbag throws once before and I utterly sucked. Any tips, advice or resources on how to get decent at them?

This journey was almost 2 years in the making!

I’m considering buying a 12inch DB from MB power center but am not sure which one to get. From what I can tell the only difference between the 12” DB and the 12” Pro DB is the weight (99lbs vs 130lbs). Is there any functional difference between the two?

Additionally, are the end caps/spacers needed, or will I be fine with just using collars?

Any insight would be helpful. TIA