Recently, in athletics, there has been an increase in the use of modified strongman training as an adjunct to traditional strength training methods to improve performance. Traditionally, football strength training programs revolve around conventional power lifting and weight lifting exercises. While these movements are essential for developing maximal strength, they do have some limitations.

 

Traditional barbell exercises require the bar or body to move through specific paths. This limited bar path reduces the transferability of strength in these lifts to the field. In conventional power lifting and weight lifting exercises the force imposed on the body is static, yet in “on field” conditions the resistance is dynamic.

 

The strength required for football is dynamic in nature because the forces imposed on the body are constantly changing their planes of motion. This dynamic resistance incorporates a much different complex of muscles than static resistance and better mimics “on field” conditions.

 

The body moves in three distinct planes of motion: the sagittal plane, transverse plane and frontal plane. However, conventional barbell exercises require force production primarily in one plane of motion: the sagittal plane (such as a bench press, power clean or squat).

 

The different movements performed in football, such as running, twisting, jumping, throwing, catching, kicking, pushing and pulling require movement in multiple planes of motion simultaneously. Functional strength training is beneficial to athletes because it requires force production in multiple planes of motion simultaneously.

 

Former Air Force Academy football strength coach Kim Goss defines functional strength training for athletics as “the execution of movements that are closely related to patterns required for a sport with the sole purpose of improving athletic performance”.

 

Functional strength training picks up where traditional barbell exercises leave off and, when implemented properly, produces better strength gains than traditional barbell exercises alone. Modified strongman training has been shown to be a great way to develop functional strength.

 

Strongman implements that are commonly used include pushing & pulling sleds tractor tires, sand bags, Atlas stones, water-filled kegs, farmer’s walks, super-yokes, and steel logs. The use of these implements is no more dangerous than traditional strength training equipment and the same safety guidelines apply. A qualified professional should instruct coaches and athletes on the proper technique in strongman lifts.

 

In the November 2009 issue of the Journal of Strength and Conditioning Research a study was published entitled, Comparison of different strongman events: trunk muscle activation and lumbar spine motion, load, and stiffness. Dr. Stuart McGill, the leading expert in spinal biomechanics, directed the study.

 

This study observed the farmer's walk, super yoke, Atlas stone lift, suitcase carry, keg walk, tire flip, and log lift. The researchers found, “Strongman events clearly challenge the strength of the body linkage, together with the stabilizing system, in a different way than traditional approaches.”

 

What makes strongman training so effective is the unbalanced nature of the training implements. Unlike barbells and dumbbells, the unbalanced nature of strongman implements force an athlete to constantly make adjustments in body position and muscular tension in order to stabilize the object: dynamic resistance. This dynamic resistance requires repeated movements at different joint angles, with a variety of force requirements and rates of force production, which closely simulates how an athlete encounters an opponent on the field.

 

Dr. McGill’s study concludes that, “The carrying events challenged different abilities than the lifting events, suggesting that loaded carrying would enhance traditional lifting-based strength programs.” The dynamic resistance that strongman implements provide, offer a better training stimulus than barbells and dumbbells alone. For example, tire flips and Atlas stone carries or loading closely simulate the movements of blocking and tackling.

 

In another study published in the November 2010 issue of the Journal of Strength and Conditioning Research entitled, A kinematic analysis of a strongman-type event: the heavy sprint-style sled pull, researchers found that there are many similarities between heavy sled pulls and the acceleration phase of a sprint. The results of this study suggest that the heavy sled pull may enhance the acceleration phase of sprinting and may also increase the ability to break and make tackles.

 

Training with strongman implements does have some limitations. When developing maximal strength minor increases in weight are needed. Adding small increments to implements such as tractor tires or Atlas stones can be very difficult and is not advised.

 

The use of 1-3 reps to develop maximal strength is best left for the traditional barbell and dumbbell exercises in the weight room instead of attempting to lift maximally loaded strongman implements.

 

The use of strongman implements may be better used when attempting to increase functional hypertrophy (4-8 reps), which is an increase in muscle size that correlates with an increase in strength. A 4-8 rep range allows for a wider selection of weight that is used on an exercise, which allows for a more effective progression in that exercise. Therefore, having multiple implements of the same kind with varying loads works best in team setting.

 

Increases in the loads used when training functional hypertrophy will translate to greater strength gains when the athlete trains for maximal strength.

 

Strongman training can be used as part of a strength program year round and fit into any phase of training. It can be used by performing a workout once a week with only strongman implements or by choosing one strongman lift and placing it at the end of a traditional workout.

 

In conclusion, strongman training picks up where traditional barbell and dumbbell exercises leave off and have been shown to produce better strength gains than traditional barbell and dumbbell exercises alone. So, get the most out of your workouts and get closer to reaching your athletic potential by incorporating strongman training in your strength-training regimen.

 

Below is a workout involving strongman implements only.

 

Order	Exercise	Sets	Reps	Rest Interval
A1	Tire Flips	5	4-6	3 minutes
B1	Farmers Walk	3	100 yards	3 minutes
C1	Lateral Keg Carry	3	20 yards	2 minutes
D1	Sled Pushes	3	20 yards	3 minutes