Strongman

Competitor in strength athletics

This article is about performers and athletes. For an authoritarian political leader, see Political strongman. For other uses, see Strongman (disambiguation).

Strongman is a competitive strength sport which tests athletes' physical strength and endurance through a variety of heavy lifts and events. Strongman competitions are known for their intensity, pushing athletes to their physical and mental limits.[1] In modern strongman, athletes compete to score points based on their relative position in an event.[2] An athlete who engages in the sport of strongman is also called a 'strongman'.[3] They are often regarded as some of the strongest men of the world.

## Etymology

[edit]

Many sources state that strongman is a man who performs remarkable feats possessing enormous amounts of strength.[4][5] In the 19th century, the term 'strongman' was referred to an exhibitor of strength during circus performances.[6]

## History

[edit]

A 19th century Strongman doing a bent press using a circus dumbbell.

Modern strongman generally credits its origins to circus strongmen who became popular in the 19th and 20th centuries. In the first half of the 20th century, strongmen performed various feats of strength such as the bent press (not to be confused with the bench press, which did not exist at the time), supporting large amounts of weight held overhead at arm's length, steel bending, chain breaking, etc. They needed to have large amounts of wrist, hand, and tendon strength for these feats, as well as prodigious oblique strength.[7] Athletes including Louis Cyr, Apollon, Donald Dinnie, and Arthur Saxon are credited as major innovators in the sport. Many events today, including the Cyr dumbbell, Apollon's axle clean-and-press, Dinnie stones, and Saxon bar deadlift bear their names.

In the late 20th century, the term strongman evolved to describe one who competes in strength athletics – a more modern eclectic strength competition in which competitors display their raw functional strength through exercises such as deadlifts, squats, overhead log lifts, lifting stones, toting refrigerators, pulling heavy vehicles and tossing or loading weights. With the advent of the World's Strongest Man competition, strongman began to be formalized as a competitive sport rather than a non-competitive spectacle. Since the advent of the modern sport, competitions including Arnold Strongman Classic, Europe's Strongest Man, Strongman Champions League, World's Ultimate Strongman, World's Strongest Viking, World Muscle Power Classic, Fortissimus, Pure Strength, Rogue Invitational, Shaw Classic, Giants Live, IFSA World Championships, Strongman Super Series and World Strongman Challenge have adopted a standardized format based on the original World's Strongest Man.[3]

More than 30 countries also hold national-level strongman competitions.[8] Local competitions featuring amateur athletes are also common.

## Modern format

[edit]

In its modern format, a strongman competition will typically consist of several events (ranging from as few as five to as many as eight at the international level) testing different aspects of strength. These may include static lifts such as a deadlift, overhead press, or squat or a dynamic event involving moving with weight. Athletes may, for example, pick up a heavy apparatus and carry it for a certain distance or drag a vehicle attached by a harness.

Strongman competitions score competitors by comparing their relative place in an event and awarding more points to competitors with better finishes. Typically, first place in an event will receive a number of points equal to the number of competitors. For example, if an athlete finishes first in the deadlift in a competition with 10 competitors, they will receive 10 points, with second receiving nine, and so on, until last place receives only one point.

Most competitions award zero points if an athlete could not complete a lift or start the event--if, for example, an athlete could not pick up a stone in a stone-carrying event, they would be awarded zero points. Competitions will also normally split points based on ties, adding up the combined points for their places and averaging them out. For example, if two athletes finish tied for first in a 10-athlete competition, the scores for first and second (10 and 9 points) will be added up and divided by two, resulting in each athlete being awarded 9.5 points.

## Training

[edit]

Training for strongman involves building overall strength in the gym and training with competition implements to gain familiarity. In the gym, it is necessary to train the entire body for strength, especially with variants of the squat, deadlift, and overhead press. Explosive power is also important, which is developed by weightlifting style lifts and cardiovascular conditioning. Additionally, grip strength must be developed and it is also imperative to improve mental toughness and pain tolerance.[9]

Although you can do general strength training, at a typical gym, training with a strongman regimen requires equipment not typically found in a gym. Some equipment used in a strongman competition would have to be found custom-made or at a strongman gym. Some of these equipment includes natural stones, tree trunk logs, farmers walk frames, yokes, kegs and various sorts of vehicles.

Another part of a strongman's training is its intense diet regime. The biggest strongman competitors would need to ingest around 8,000 - 10,000 calories a day.

## Events

[edit]

Brian Shaw performing the Rogue Elephant bar raw deadlift at the 2017 Arnold Strongman Classic

Though competitive strongman events are ever-changing, there are a number of staples that frequently appear on the international stage,[10] including:

* Deadlift (and its variants: Elephant bar/ Hummer Tyre/ Silver Dollar/ Deficit/ Car/ Barrel etc.)
* Squat (and its variants: Giant Barbell/ Barrel/ Double-T Cambered bar etc.)
* Atlas stones and Manhood stones
* Natural stones (Husafell Stone, Dinnie Stones, Inver Stones, Steinstossen, Odd Haugen Tombstone etc.)
* Log Press/ Axle Press/ Viking press
* Circus/ Cyr/ Inch dumbbell
* Vehicle pull
* Super Yoke/ Bale Tote/ Frame carry
* Farmers Walk/ Timber carry
* Keg Toss
* Weight over bar
* Power stairs/ Duck walk
* Fingal's Fingers/ Norse Hammers
* Loading Medley
* Hercules hold/ Front hold/ Deadlift hold
* Conan's Wheel/ Basque circle
* Car flip/ Tyre flip
* Bar bending
* Grip strength events

## Notable strongmen

[edit]

### Traditional strongmen

[edit]

The strongmen are listed according to the chronological order of their birth.

* Orm Storolfsson
* Grettir Ásmundarson
* Thomas Topham
* Angus Graham
* Snorri Björnsson
* Peter Francisco
* Brynjólfur Eggertsson
* Otto Eberstadt
* Charles Vansittart
* Angus MacAskill
* Donald Dinnie
* Louis Attila
* John Holtum
* Edwin Checkley
* Signor Lawanda
* Koca Yusuf
* Louis 'Apollon' Uni
* Pierre Gasnier
* Louis Cyr
* George Levasseur
* Milo Brinn
* Gilman Low
* Eugen Sandow
* William Bankier
* Ivan Poddubny
* Warren Lincoln Travis
* Georg Lurich
* Georg Hackenschmidt
* Arthur Saxon
* The Great Gama
* Stanislaus Zbyszko
* Monte Saldo
* Gustav Frištenský
* Thomas Inch
* Max Sick
* Karl Swoboda
* Kodi Rammurthy Naidu
* Frank Saldo
* John B. Gagnon
* Paul Trappen
* William Pullum
* Alexander Zass
* Hermann Görner
* George F. Jowett
* Wladek Zbyszko
* Joe Greenstein
* Zishe Breitbart
* Ed Zercher
* Karl Norberg
* Karl Mörke
* Henry 'Milo' Steinborn
* Don Athaldo
* Joe Bonomo
* Siegmund Klein
* Charles Rigoulot
* Joe Rollino
* Gunnar Salómonsson
* Ian Gordon Batchelor
* The Great Antonio
* Doug Hepburn
* Mat Tarzan
* Paul Anderson
* Otto Acron
* Jack Shanks
* Terry Todd
* John Massis
* Jon Cole
* Douglas Edmunds
* Valentin Dikul
* Richard Sorin
* Greg Matonick
* Iñaki Perurena

* Roy van Rumph

### Modern Strongmen

[edit]

Main article: List of strongmen

The following 75 strongmen have reached the podium (1st, 2nd or 3rd place) of World's Strongest Man since 1977 and/or World Muscle Power Classic from 1985 to 2004 and/or Arnold Strongman Classic since 2002. They are listed according to the chronological order of their podium appearance.

24 of them have won the World's Strongest Man (WSM), 11 have won the World Muscle Power Classic (WMPC) and 9 have won the Arnold Strongman Classic (ASC).

7 men have won both WSM & WMPC (Kazmaier, Capes, Sigmarsson, Reeves, Magnússon, Ahola, Karlsen). 5 men have won both WSM & ASC (Savickas, Shaw, Björnsson, Licis, Hooper).

* Bruce Wilhelm (WSM)
* Bob Young
* Ken Patera
* Don Reinhoudt (WSM)
* Lars Hedlund
* Bill Kazmaier (WSM & WMPC)
* Geoff Capes (WSM & WMPC)
* Dave Waddington
* Tom Magee
* John Gamble
* Jón Páll Sigmarsson (WSM & WMPC)
* Simon Wulfse
* Ab Wolders
* Cees de Vreugd
* Mark Higgins
* Jamie Reeves (WSM & WMPC)
* Hjalti Árnason
* O.D. Wilson
* Ilkka Nummisto
* Magnús Ver Magnússon (WSM & WMPC)
* Henning Thorsen
* Gary Taylor (WSM)
* Ted van der Parre (WSM)
* Riku Kiri
* Manfred Hoeberl (WMPC)
* Anton Boucher
* Gerrit Badenhorst
* Marko Varalahti
* Forbes Cowan (WMPC)
* Torfi Ólafsson
* Jouko Ahola (WSM & WMPC)
* Magnus Samuelsson (WSM)
* Raimonds Bergmanis (WMPC)
* Flemming Rasmussen
* Mark Philippi
* Regin Vágadal
* Wout Zijlstra
* Janne Virtanen (WSM)
* Svend Karlsen (WSM & WMPC)
* Hugo Girard (WMPC)
* Paul Smeets
* Mark Henry (ASC)
* Phil Pfister (WSM)
* Mariusz Pudzianowski (WSM)
* Žydrūnas Savickas (WSM & ASC)
* Vasyl Virastyuk (WSM)
* Glenn Ross
* Jesse Marunde
* Dominic Filiou
* Mikhail Koklyaev
* Don Pope
* Andrus Murumets
* Sebastian Wenta
* Terry Hollands
* Derek Poundstone (ASC)
* Dave Ostlund
* Travis Ortmayer
* Brian Shaw (WSM & ASC)
* Mike Jenkins (ASC)
* Vytautas Lalas (ASC)
* Hafþór Júlíus Björnsson (WSM & ASC)
* Mike Burke
* Mateusz Kieliszkowski
* Eddie Hall (WSM)
* Jerry Pritchett
* Mikhail Shivlyakov
* Martins Licis (WSM & ASC)
* Oleksii Novikov (WSM)
* Tom Stoltman (WSM)
* JF Caron
* Maxime Boudreault
* Bobby Thompson
* Luke Stoltman
* Mitchell Hooper (WSM & ASC)
* Evan Singleton

Additionally, the following 50 strongmen have reached either 4th or 5th places of World's Strongest Man and/or World Muscle Power Classic and/or Arnold Strongman Classic:

* Lou Ferrigno
* Franco Columbu
* Jon Kolb
* Gus Rethwisch
* Bishop Dolegiewicz
* Jerry Hannan
* Craig Wolfley
* Ernie Hackett
* Hamish Davidson
* Rudolph Kuester
* George Hechter
* Dan Markovic
* Jean-Pierre Brulois
* Tom Hawk
* László Fekete
* Adrian Smith
* Berend Veneberg
* Heinz Ollesch
* Pieter de Bruyn
* Martin Muhr
* Wayne Price
* Nathan Jones
* Bill Lyndon
* Johnny Perry
* Brian Bell
* Arvydas Pintinas
* Andy Bolton
* Steve Kirit
* Bill Pittuck
* Sami Heinonen
* Jarek Dymek
* Brian Schoonveld
* Odd Haugen
* Brian Siders
* Benedikt Magnússon
* Oleksandr Pekanov
* Mark Felix
* Tarmo Mitt
* Vidas Blekaitis
* Stefán Sölvi Pétursson
* Laurence Shahlaei
* Krzysztof Radzikowski
* Dimitar Savatinov
* Konstantine Janashia
* Matjaz Belsak
* Rob Kearney
* Trey Mitchell
* Thomas Evans
* Mathew Ragg
* Tristain Hoath

#### International Accolades

[edit]

* The table below summarizes the 50 most decorated strongmen in modern history with the most number of international wins in their careers (1st places only/ open weight and age categories only).[11]

Active Retired

#  | Name  | Country  | Active  | Competitions  | Wins  | Win %

|
|
|
|
|
|

1  | Žydrūnas Savickas |  Lithuania | 1996–2022  | 147  | 79  | 53.74%
2  | Mariusz Pudzianowski |  Poland | 2000–2009  | 61  | 43  | 70.49%
3  | Hafþór Júlíus Björnsson |  Iceland | 2010–  | 69  | 31  | 44.93%
4  | Brian Shaw |  USA | 2007–2023  | 65  | 27  | 41.54%
5  | Aivars Šmaukstelis |  Latvia | 2014–  | 76  | 26  | 34.21%
6  | Krzysztof Radzikowski |  Poland | 2005–2019  | 112  | 24  | 21.43%
7  | Ervin Katona |  Serbia | 2003–2015  | 99  | 17  | 17.17%
8  | Hugo Girard |  Canada | 1998–2008  | 37  | 15  | 40.54%
9  | Dainis Zageris |  Latvia | 2009–2022  | 87  | 15  | 17.24%
10  | Mitchell Hooper |  Canada | 2022–  | 23  | 14  | 60.87%
11  | Jón Páll Sigmarsson |  Iceland | 1982–1992  | 29  | 13  | 44.82%
12  | Magnús Ver Magnússon |  Iceland | 1987–2005  | 48  | 12  | 25.00%
13  | Magnus Samuelsson |  Sweden | 1995–2008  | 63  | 12  | 19.05%
14  | Jouko Ahola |  Finland | 1994–2002  | 22  | 11  | 50.00%
15  | Riku Kiri |  Finland | 1987–1999  | 25  | 11  | 44.00%
16  | Mateusz Kieliszkowski |  Poland | 2014–  | 44  | 11  | 25.00%
17  | Oleksii Novikov |  Ukraine | 2016–  | 45  | 11  | 24.44%
18  | Mikhail Koklyaev |  Russia | 2005–2014  | 50  | 11  | 22.00%
19  | Matjaz Belsak |  Slovenia | 2014–2020  | 64  | 11  | 17.19%
20  | JF Caron |  Canada | 2007–2023  | 73  | 10  | 13.70%
21  | Geoff Capes |  UK / England | 1979–1988  | 20  | 9  | 45.00%
22  | Svend Karlsen |  Norway | 1996–2006  | 67  | 9  | 13.43%
23  | Bill Kazmaier |  USA | 1979–1990  | 18  | 8  | 44.44%
24  | Derek Poundstone |  USA | 2006–2017  | 22  | 8  | 36.36%
25  | Martins Licis |  USA | 2015–  | 24  | 8  | 33.33%
26  | Vytautas Lalas |  Lithuania | 2007–2018  | 30  | 8  | 26.67%
27  | Kelvin de Ruiter |  Netherlands | 2011–  | 40  | 8  | 20.00%
28  | Janne Virtanen |  Finland | 1998–2009  | 50  | 8  | 16.00%
29  | Laurence Shahlaei |  UK / England | 2007–2021  | 55  | 8  | 14.55%
30  | Travis Ortmayer |  USA | 2005–2023  | 51  | 7  | 13.72%
31  | Manfred Hoeberl |  Austria | 1990–1996  | 18  | 6  | 33.33%
32  | Vasyl Virastyuk |  Ukraine | 2002–2008  | 28  | 6  | 21.43%
33  | Andrus Murumets |  Estonia | 2003–2009  | 40  | 6  | 15.00%
34  | Rayno Nel  |  South Africa | 2023–  | 6  | 5  | 83.33%
35  | Adam Roszkowski  |  Poland | 2021–  | 19  | 5  | 26.32%
35  | Flemming Rasmussen |  Denmark | 1995–2001  | 19  | 5  | 26.32%
37  | Mykhailo Starov |  Ukraine | 2004–2006  | 24  | 5  | 20.83%
38  | Pavlo Kordiyaka |  Ukraine | 2017–  | 25  | 5  | 20.00%
39  | Evan Singleton |  USA | 2018–  | 29  | 5  | 17.24%
40  | Johannes Årsjö |  Sweden | 2007–2017  | 39  | 5  | 12.82%
41  | Mikhail Shivlyakov |  Russia | 2011–2021  | 44  | 5  | 11.36%
41  | Stojan Todorchev |  Bulgaria | 2005–2017  | 44  | 5  | 11.36%
43  | Raivis Vidzis |  Latvia | 2002–2009  | 46  | 5  | 10.87%
43  | Jarek Dymek |  Poland | 2000–2010  | 46  | 5  | 10.87%
45  | Oskar Ziółkowski  |  Poland | 2020–  | 13  | 4  | 30.77%
46  | Mike Burke |  USA | 2011–2015  | 19  | 4  | 21.05%
47  | Didzis Zariņš  |  Latvia | 2011–  | 23  | 4  | 17.39%
48  | Trey Mitchell |  USA | 2016–  | 27  | 4  | 14.81%
49  | Tom Stoltman |  UK / Scotland | 2016–  | 32  | 4  | 12.50%
50  | Glenn Ross |  UK / Northern Ireland | 1997–2011  | 33  | 4  | 12.12%

\- As of 1 January 2025

## Incorrect usage

[edit]

Strongman is often incorrectly used to describe a person who does powerlifting, weightlifting or bodybuilding. Due to the circus and entertainment background, nineteenth-century bodybuilders were expected to mingle with the crowd during intermission and perform strength feats like card tearing, nail bending, etc. to demonstrate strength as well as symmetry and size.

## Strongwoman

[edit]

Main article: Strongwoman

The sport also extends to female competitors. From 2000s onwards, women's competitions were held internationally and from late 2010s, they received mainstream attention thanks to competitions such as World's Strongest Woman, Arnold Strongwoman Classic and Rogue Invitational.

## See also

[edit]

* Strength athletics
* History of physical training and fitness
* List of strongmen
* List of strongman competitions
* Lifting stone
* Grip strength
* Power training
* Strength training
* Highland games

## References

[edit]

1. ^ Maanas, Aaromal (2 November 2022). "Who is the World's Strongest Man? Ranking the top five Strongest Men in History". Sportskeeda. Retrieved 2 November 2022.
2. ^ "About Strongman - competitors are tested for their pure strength". Robert Wood for Topend Sports Website. Retrieved 10 September 2024.
3. ^ a b "The origins of Strongman sport, a story of strength and challenge". Kingsbox. 15 June 2023. Retrieved 10 September 2024.
4. ^ "Strongman". www.collinsdictionary.com. Retrieved 10 September 2024.
5. ^ "Strongman". www.dictionary.com. Retrieved 10 September 2024.
6. ^ "STRONGMAN". ERA-FIT Ltd Bespoke Fitness Systems. Retrieved 2019-09-05.[permanent dead link‍]
7. ^ "Notable Strongmen and their fascinating feats of strength". 20 May 2017.
8. ^ "STRONGMAN CONTESTS". strongmanarchives.com. Retrieved 2022-04-13.
9. ^ "Strongman Training at Home". Andre Adams. Retrieved 10 September 2024.
10. ^ "Strongman Events". strongman.org. Retrieved 2012-12-28.
11. ^ "Strongman Archives - Athletes". Strongman Archives. April 5, 2022. Retrieved April 6, 2022.

## External links

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Wikimedia Commons has media related to Strongmen.

* United States All Round Weightlifting Association
* Oldtime Strongman
* Old-School Strongmen Archived 2010-09-27 at the Wayback Machine – slideshow by Life magazine
* Oldtime Strongmen List
* World Strongman Federation

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