Strongman Training Set Up

I will utilise 3 main training days of the week. Monday, Wednesday and Friday. This is where I will push my body to it’s limits with very intense work. On Tuesday, Thursday and Saturday I will incorporate cardid and core workouts to facilitate recovery and conditioning. On Sundays I rest completely. I believe this is the best weekly schedule to train intensely for competition and recover sufficiently to maximise performance.

I split the body into 3 groups, upper body – trained on Mondays, middle body – trained on Wednesdays and lower body – trained on Fridays.

I always start workouts with Event Training because they are most demanding and relevant to competition. I will pick 3 special events from the list to train, and after a good warmup and stretch I will complete each event once, as hard as possible at a particular setting. This setting will increase each week to a comp or test day. E.g. 120 kg farmers walk 60mtr for speed. Next week it will be 70 mtrs for speed, each week increasing distance to around 100mtrs.

Note: It is important to have a “control” or test days outside of competition to identify your current strength. From this information you will be able to calculate precise weekly increments to competition so that you can peak at a competition. Usually I will try for a 5% to 10% increase from test days results to competition. This will happen in a 8 to 9 week period.

Next on the workout is the Power Movements. Strongman relies heavily on explosive power, from flipping events, throwing events, stones, static power events and events needing a sharp burst of momentum.

The power movements I have listed are compulsory for a good reason!! I will cycle intensely, 3×3 on heavy days and 3×5 on moderate days.

The final facet of my workout is the body conditioning or strength phase of the program. The core components of this are: standing dumbbell military press on Mondays, deadlifts on Wednesdays and squats on Fridays, these are compulsory. I choose 2 to 3 other exercises on the list to facilitate a strength gain in that part of the body. I will use 3 sets of 5 – 10 reps to complete these sets.

Finally a note on conditioning. I have seen so many super-strong athletes in the past fall short of the rest of the field because they had no conditioning. You must train hard at this! I train Tuesday, Thursday and Saturday in a cross training schedule using: running hills, swimming, biking and track work to build stamina.

I will also incorporate my core/abdominal work on these days.

Note: core/abdominal strength is paramount in keeping the right posture in events and also there is a distinct correlation to increased hip flexion endurance.This will increase your ability to walk great distances whilst carrying heavy loads. I try to spend 90 minutes on these workouts. 45 min cardio/45 min core.

Island Roar! Watch out – Anything is Possible

Strongman Program

Event training. Pick 3 events	Mon	Tues	Wed	Thurs	Fri	Sat	Sun
	Upper Body	Cardio Core	Middle Body	Cardio Core	Lower Body	Cardio Core	Rest Completely
	*Leg lift max weight reps.		*Deadlift hold		*Super yolk		Sunday Roast
	*Appollon axle. Clean & Press max/ reps.		*Stones		*Sled pull forwards/ backwards		movies/ videos
	*Crucifix		*Arm over arm		*Conans wheel		swim/ sauna/ spa
	*Fingals fingers		*Tyre flip		*Stone carry		visit friends
			*Grip work				rest
			*Farmers walk
Power Exercises	Cleans		High Pulls		Power Pulls
Strength/ Body Conditioning	DB Standing military press		Deadlift – high rack low rack		Squat – high rack low rack
	Lat raise		Shrugs		Leg press
	Bench		Bentover row		Hack squat
	Incline bench		Lat pulldown		Stiff legged deadlift
	Flyess		Seated row		Leg curl
	Bicep curl		Chins		Calf raise
	DB curl		Good Morning		Seated calf raise
	Lying Tri ext
	Dips
Time	3 hrs	90 mins	3 hrs	90 mins	3 hrs	90 mins

My Powerlifting Program

Mon	Tues	Wed	Thurs	Fri	Sat	Sun
Cycle	Cardio	Cycle	Cardio	Light bench	Cycle	Rest
Heavy Bench	Brazilian Ju-Jitsu grappling	Deadlift	Brazilian Ju-Jitsu grappling	Military Press	Squat
Dumb Bell Shoulder press		Rack Deadlift		Bent Lat Raise	High Rack squat
Lat Raise		Good Morning		Tricep Push Downs	Stiff Legged Deadlift
Lying Tricep Ext		Bent Row		Preacher Curl	Leg Curl
Dips – weighted		Chins		Machine Curl	Calf Raise
Bicep Curl		Seated Row			Seated Calf Raise
Preacher Curl		Hack Squat
Alt DB Curl