Best Strongman Exercises

If the rise of things such as Spartan Races, Tough Mudders, ultra marathons and even CrossFit have taught us anything, it’s that there is a masochistic segment of society that seeks to determine how badass they can be. On a related note, where I live had a cold snap last week and I ran 10K every day in temps averaging about -20F. It felt pretty badass.

But if you want to go back to an earlier time, when men engaged in more functional tests of strength, look no further than strongman lifts.

This isn’t powerlifting, finding out your max in bench press, deadlift and squat. “With strongman, a lot of the implements we move are things that you would have on a farm or on an industrial site,” said Brandon Morrison, a strongman competitor and trainer in Seattle who has qualified for nationals twice. “That’s how the sport started.”

Morrison explained, “When people think of ‘functional exercises,’ they imagine things like the snatch or clean and jerk, because they’re told it uses the whole body. But in the real world you’re not snapping a weight on a perfectly loaded bar and catching it in an overhead squat then standing it up. I don’t put a giant turkey in the freezer that way. I wouldn’t help my buddy move furniture that way.”

Finding out if you had the ability to lift something heavy is an ancient test of masculinity. “Can you pick it up, or can’t you?” Morrison said. “These real objects carry over into the real world.” I remember being on a beach on Quadra Island with my young son and being asked to move giant rocks because those were the ones that had the most and biggest crabs underneath for him to examine.

Morrison also praises strongman competitions for building “spontaneous strength,” which means “being strong without having to warm up.”

“The biggest benefit is that training with strongman implements allows you to break through strength plateaus,” said Dain Wallis, a coach in Toronto who in 2015 achieved fifth place for his weight category in the World Strongman Ranking. Wallis says that training with a fat axel bar in strongman will help improve your deadlift and overhead press, and that clean and pressing a 12” log can do wonders for your front squat. “Strength aside,” he says, “adding in just one or two strongman movements will help break the monotony of a standard training program and keep motivation high.”

“The first obstacle is finding the equipment,” said Peter Baker, a trainer in Tampa, FL. “Farmer carry bars and thick bars are almost never available at a commercial gym.” Baker explained that a good introduction to strongman is to use heavy dumbbells or kettlebells and carry them around the gym in an imitation farmer’s carry.”

“Farmer’s walks and sandbag carries are the best ‘introduction’ strongman exercises for beginners,” Dain Wallis concurs.

Watch this detailed video on the proper way to do the Farmer’s Walk.


“We have the strongest backs of any strength sport athletes,” Brandon Morrison proclaimed. “The events are really varied. Going from ground to overhead, walking with stuff in your hands, stone loading, deadlifts … There is an event where people run with a fridge on their back.”

Kalle Beck, a strongman coach and competitor in California who has multiple top-ten placings in national competition, says that, “Strongman is an extremely intimidating sport filled with giant bearded men, but first time competitors are often hooked because of how supportive the other competitors are.” Its biggest appeal, Beck says, is to those who like the variety of movements in CrossFit but dislike the longer WODs. Strongman is for people who want greater diversity than powerlifting and would rather just lift something heavy than focus on mastering the technical intricacies of Olympic lifting.

Speaking of lacking the technical intricacies …

“The point of the lift is to get it up, however can,” said Brandon Morrison, “so some of it can look pretty ugly.” However, he stressed the need for efficiency of movement. When you’re scored on speed and reps, you don’t want to be spending energy on anything other than the lift itself.

One of Kalle Beck’s biggest recommendations for strongman that is missing from other sports is “moving with weight.” You’re not stationary, but again doing that “functional,” real-world work of lifting something heavy and moving it to another location. If you excel at strongman, moving furniture becomes a lot easier.

Kalle Beck has dozens and dozens of strongman videos on his YouTube channel, and provided these “how to” videos to AskMen to show proper technique for some popular strongman lifts.

How to clean and press a log:

How to press a circus dumbbell:

How to deadlift a car (really):

How to clean and press a keg:

How to do a continental clean:

On the mental front, Brandon Morrison says not to overthink it. “It’s only 60 to 90 seconds. Just go. Don’t worry about breathing. You can breathe later. You have to attack the weight,” he says.

“The Strongman community is growing faster than ever and has evolved dramatically over the past few years,” said Dain Wallis. “Formerly an underground sport associated primarily with huge men, the sport now boasts over five weight class categories for both men and women.”

So if you’ve been thinking about it, there are a lot of reasons to give it a try, and not just for men.

“There are plenty of ladies who would put an average man to shame if they tried to go head to head with them at an event,” said Heidi Campo, a strongwoman competitor in Utah. “The physical strength you gain from training strongwoman is comparable to the gains you make in your confidence. Training strongwoman is not for basic ‘girls who lift.’ We are less concerned about our ab selfies and spray tans, and more concerned about the actual weight we can put up.”

I look at some of those lifts and fear for my back, but as mentioned earlier, strongman competitors are known for having very strong backs. That doesn’t mean it can’t be perilous. “The biceps tear is the most common injury in strongman,” Brandon Morrison said.

If you’re considering giving strongman (or strongwoman) a try, consider hiring a qualified coach to keep your body in safe, working order.

James S. Fell is a syndicated fitness columnist for the Chicago Tribune and author of Lose it Right: A Brutally Honest 3-Stage Program to Help You Get Fit and Lose Weight Without Losing Your Mind, published by Random House Canada. Visit his site at www.BodyForWife.com for a free weight loss report. Follow him on Facebook and Twitter.