So you want to do a Strongman competition?

You’ve watched the World’s Strongest Man at Christmas, you’ve probably heard of athletes like Thor or Eddie Hall and now you want to try it for yourself.

In this guide I’m going to outline the things you need to do if you want to get started in the sport of Strongman.

Before you even think about competing, in my opinion, the first step is to make sure you can do the basic compound lifts to a decent standard. The squat, deadlift and overhead press are the foundational movements in Strongman, if you struggle to do these, you will have a hard time learning the basics of the sport.

I’m not suggesting in any way that you should be a World record holder in any of these lifts, but a close to bodyweight overhead press, 1.5 x bodyweight squat and deadlift are great starting points, after all, you wouldn’t expect to become a racing car driver if you don’t have the basic ability to drive.

The next step is finding a gym that offers strongman training, somewhere with all the equipment and a group of people who already train for and compete in the sport. There are planty of these gyms around and you can find them on www.strengthregister.com

Once you’ve found a gym, message them, ask if they have a Saturday or Sunday group training session that you can come along to. Most gyms will have a group of lifters who get together at the weekend for events training and will be more than happy to have you come along.

In my opinion, joining a group session is the best way to get into the sport as you’ll be with like minded people of all abilities, learning and developing together whilst having a lot of fun along the way.

Once you’ve been training for a while and started to develop the skills and strength to do each lift to a standard that would mean you don’t zero the majority of events at novice level, it’s time to start looking for competitions.

Again, Strength Register will be the best place to look as they have the most comprehensive list of competitions across the UK.

Find yourself a competition that matches the level you’re at and sign up, if you have a few people you train with that sign up too, it’ll be even better.

Once you’ve paid your entry fee and know which events you’ll be doing, you can focus your training on those and trim away things that take away from your ability to recover.

Things to avoid doing for your first competition.

1. Getting too bogged down in the specifics of the equipment, you can either lift the weight or you can’t, nothing else matters and it's not likely that you will be using the exact same kit that you train with.

2. Wearing supportive equipment you have never trained in, everything you use should be familiar and comfortable.

3. Don’t concern yourself with how big, strong or experienced other lifters are, nothing they do impacts your performance.

4. Don’t train too close to your competition. I’ve seen a guy in his first comp absolutely wrecked after the first event because, as I found out when talking to him, he thought training heavy truck pulls the night before would be ok because it wasn’t in the competition.

5. Don’t think that because you might not win, that you won’t be competitive. There will be a small group of you in the competition that will have a great battle for places and you’ll likely all compete together again, each time getting progressively better and climbing up the rankings.

Things you can expect in your first competition.

1. You’ll meet a lot of great people, if you’re missing kit, someone will be able to lend you what you need.

2. There will be more experienced people there who will be happy to give advice and look after you throughout the day.

3. You will have loads of fun, the crowd and other athletes will cheer for you, even though you are competing against eachother.

4. Some lifts won’t necessarily go to plan, and that’s ok. Nerves, unfamiliar environment, slightly different equipment and not having perfect warm ups or rest periods will all play a big part in how you do and are all part of the learning process.

5. You will have a mixture of ability levels, even at novice competitions, so expect some people to be much better than you, this will be true, no matter which stage of your competition career you’re at.

6. The pace of the competition might be slower than you’re expecting, so be prepared to have long periods between events if there are multiple classes.

What will you need to take to your first competition?

It’s tempting to load up everything but the kitchen sink, but just take the kit you use week in week out, the same belt and soft belt, elbow and knee sleeves, wrist wraps, deadlift straps, lifting shoes, compression gear and comfortable shorts.

Take something warm to wrap up in, like a hoody or a warm coat in the winter. It's also a good idea to take a fold out chair as seating can be limited.

Take a few bands for warming up and mobilising along with any soft tissue tools you might use like a Theragun.

In terms of food, keep it high carbohydrate, low protein and low fat for between events, most of us take bags of Haribo and some Rice Crispy squares, then something high protein for when you finish.

Take plenty of fluids to stay hydrated, particularly in the summer.

It’s important to remember that novice level competitions are about learning the sport, learning how to compete and gaining experience as you improve in the gym, the winning is a bonus. 

These competitions are a stepping stone to bigger, more prestigious competitions and no one other than you can stop you from progressing.

Also, no one has any right to tell you that you have to move up a level before you feel ready, which is an article for another day.