Blog

posted on February 16, 2022

Hello Dream Team,

I have been just training for life, liberty and the pursuit of bumpiness for the past few months. With no competitions currently in sight I have been mixing various training styles, implements, exercises and just rolling with them for a few weeks at a time. With that being said I do miss the time frame goal, game time feeling that competing in powerlifting and strongman provide. So that got me thinking, why don’t I talk about my experiences in both and work to inspire or push you and the strong folks at Union and abroad to try new competitions.

Let it be known that ANYONE can compete in either of these sports and more people will support and cheer for you than grumble and poke fun. For those people that poke fun at people competing you’re not cool or helping new people enjoy the sport you do, we can have a chat later about that. If you are competing for the first time in either of these sports, I would recommend getting a coach that has competed or training with people that have competed. This will help boost your confidence and not go into training and competition without purpose, drive and knowledge. The saying “I don’t know if I’m ready yet” is the reason we prepare and train for the competition. Have no fear, find some battle buddies, coaches and let’s get at er!

In the grand scheme of things the two sports (powerlifting & strongman) are similar in training. Your goal should be to have a strong base of work capacity, proficient technique in the BIG moments (Squat Bench Dead Carry & Overhead Press) , build some muscle because you can’t flex bone and much to many people’s anti-cardio hearts, have a good aerobic capacity (mostly for recovery purposes but also so you aren’t a lump after your first event). I would say another cool thing about these sports is that the majority of people competing and supporting athletes are very nice, helpful and educational. They as anyone would want to see their sport grow and attract more attention.

There are a few differences I noticed in training and competing for both sports. In a full powerlifting competition you will always squat, bench and deadlift in that order. Strongman however can have 3-5 or more various events that you will usually know upon signing up but could also change due to equipment or other issues (the mystery is part of the fun). While training for powerlifting I would recommend having a squat, bench, deadlift and second press emphasis day focusing on building your competition lifts. While training for strongman I would still keep my 3 strength and main mover days going but I would emphasis the Overhead press and deadlift more since that is used more in strongman. I would throw a variation squat and bench in to help strengthen my movements and keep building muscle. Also in Strongman, you will usually be head to head with another competitor but I would tell anyone to focus on their own efforts and do the best they can.

Overall I had a blast competing in both Strongman & Powerlifting. I liked seeing my maximal strength in the powerlifting competition and pushing the gas pedal in the strongman competition. I will definitely be doing more of both soon and would love to talk more in person with people who are interested in joining me in training and competitions.

Pitter patter let’s get at er and have some fun trying new events.