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ABSTRACT and conditioning coaches surveyed walk is believed to require high levels
trained athletes ranging from amateur of grip strength, core strength, and
THIS ARTICLE EXAMINES
(n 5 74), semiprofessional (n 5 38), upper back strength (24), as well as
RESEARCH SURROUNDING THE
and professional level (n 5 108) and the ability to walk quickly under sub-
ACUTE PHYSIOLOGICAL
included coaches from organizations stantial load (44).
RESPONSES TO STRONGMAN
such as the National Football League The tire flip involves athletes flipping
TRAINING. TO GAIN A GREATER (NFL), National Rugby League, Super
UNDERSTANDING OF THE EXIST- large truck or tractor tires. The athlete
Rugby, National Basketball Association, assumes a semi-sumo deadlift position
ING RESEARCH TO STRONGMAN and Major League Baseball (39). In the with his hands hooked under the edge
TRAINING, ACUTE PHYSIOLOGI- survey, strongman implements were of the tire. A neutral grip with palms
CAL RESPONSES ARE COMPARED defined as “any non-traditional imple- facing each other is preferred as it
WITH THAT SEEN DURING COM- ment integrated into strength and con- takes some strain off of the bicep ten-
MON FORMS OF GYM-BASED ditioning practice” and the main don; this will depend on space under
RESISTANCE TRAINING. BASED implements used were sleds, ropes, ket- the tire and at times a supinated posi-
ON THE RESEARCH, EVIDENCE- tlebells, tires, sandbags, and farmers’ tion will be taken. The athlete will then
BASED GUIDELINES ARE RECOM- walk bars. lift upward, similar to the deadlift, then
MENDED FOR STRENGTH AND drive into the tire extending the hips,
In strongman competitions, the truck
CONDITIONING COACHES LOOK- pull is a common event and involves knees, and ankles (triple extension) to
ING TO IMPLEMENT STRONGMAN an athlete pulling a truck using a har- propel the tire upward and forward.
TRAINING INTO A TRAINING ness attachment connecting the ath- Their hands then rotate around from
PROGRAM. lete to the truck. The athlete faces hip height to chest height to push the
the same direction they wish to pull tire over (Figure 3).
trongman exercises are becoming toward, with the truck attached behind
S
The overhead press is another very
more prevalent in fitness centers them by a chest-mounted harness. common strongman event (43) and is
and training facilities, likely Adopting the 4-point power position typically performed with a metal log,
owing to the novelty and competitive with both hands and feet on the giant dumbbell, or axle. Athletes are
nature of the exercises. Despite this ground they use lower-body strength allowed to use any method of getting
increased interest, current research on to take steps forward pulling the truck. the object from ground to overhead
the physiological responses to strong- Although the truck pull is often used in and often use a modified power clean
man training has only examined acute strongman competitions, it is impracti- movement for the clean portion and
responses, with much of this involving cal for athletes and coaches to imple- a push press movement for the over-
only a single exercise. The aim of this ment a truck pull in regular training head press portion. Although athletes
narrative review was to gain a better because of space requirements, thus are allowed to perform jerks or full
understanding of the existing research a sled with a chest harness (Figure 1) cleans, the size and instability of the
on strongman training by comparing is often used to simulate the truck. objects tends to favor a more con-
physiological responses to strongman trolled approach either in the form of
The farmers’ walk involves an athlete
and weight training modalities. a push press or a strict press. For more
deadlifting 2 farmers’ bar handles
(ostensibly, long dumbbells with raised in-depth description of the implements
COMMON STRONGMAN
EXERCISES handles; Figure 2A and 2B) on either
In a recent survey of 220 strength and side of them and then walking while
KEY WORDS:
conditioning coaches, 88% reported carrying these loads, usually for a set
resistance training; strength and
using strongman implements in the time or distance with a set weight in
conditioning; training responses
training of their athletes. The strength competition settings. The farmers’
84 VOLUME 36 | NUMBER 6 | DECEMBER 2014 Copyright Ó National Strength and Conditioning Association
and lifting instructions, readers are
referred to Waller et al. (34) (Figure 4).
Although these exercises have been
used for many years in strongman
competition, for them to be applied
effectively within strength and condi-
tioning programs, we need to have
a deeper understanding of the under-
pinning physiological responses to
these exercises. Long-term training
studies investigating the physiological
effects of strongman exercises would
give exercise professionals greater
insight into how strongman exercises
may be appropriately included in
strength and conditioning programs.
As there are currently no such long-
Figure 1. Starting position of sled drag with chest pulling harness. term training studies, we must look
to relevant research that has examined
the acute physiological responses to
strongman training and compare that
with what is currently known about
traditional methods of resistance
training.
ACUTE PHYSIOLOGICAL
RESPONSES
The American College of Sports Med-
icine (ACSM) released a position stand
in 2011 with the goal of providing
scientific evidence-based recommenda-
tions to health and fitness professionals
in the development of individualized
exercise prescriptions for apparently
healthy adults of all ages. In this posi-
tion stand, the ACSM reports evidence-
based guidelines for the intensity and
duration (using percentage of maxi-
mum heart rate, V̇ O2max and rating
of perceived exertion scales) of exercise
toward improvement of physical fitness
and wellbeing.
Berning et al. (3) examined the meta-
bolic demands of pushing and pulling
a 1960-kg motor vehicle. Six male
strength athletes were required to attend
3 testing sessions. Sessions 1 and 2 were
randomly assigned and entailed either
pushing or pulling the 1960-kg motor
vehicle as fast as possible over a flat
400-m course while heart rate and oxy-
gen consumption were continuously re-
corded. Vertical jump was recorded
Figure 2. (A) Start position of farmers’ walk. (B) Middle position of farmers’ walk, immediately pre and post, and blood
walking with the weights. lactate levels were recorded immediately
Figure 3. (A) Start position of the tire flip. (B) Midway through a tire flip. (C) Point of tire flip where an athlete can drive the tire over
completing the flip. (D) End position of tire flip where an athlete has completed flipping the tire.
before and 5 minutes after. Session 3 was exhausting event with near maximal vertical jump performance seen imme-
a treadmill V̇ O2max test. The push took heart rates being maintained over diately postexercise. Future research
6.00 minutes on average to complete several minutes, and this event is highly could also examine the physiological
while the pull took 8.20 minutes on aver- anaerobic with post–car push/pull lac- responses to the truck pull as per-
age. After the first 50 m of the push/pull, tate scores 31% greater than observed formed with heavier loads and over
oxygen consumption averaged 44–49% following the maximal treadmill test. much shorter distances so to allow
of treadmill max while heart rates Acute fatigue was substantial with ver- coaches’ and exercise professional’s
averaged 90–92% of HRmax. It was tical jump scores significantly decreas- deeper insight into the physiological
observed that oxygen consumption ing and all subjects experiencing responses to strongman training.
and heart rate peaked within the first dizziness and nausea. Because of the The heart rates and oxygen consump-
100 m of both the pushing/pulling extreme anaerobic energy output and tion observed with the 400-m car
and that from that point on oxygen con- level of fatigue involved, Berning et al. push/pull falls into the “vigorous”
sumption and heart rate averaged 65 (3) recommended that the car push/ training zone set by the ACSM,
and 96% of treadmill maximum (50.3 pull should be considered an advanced although after the first 50 m, oxygen
mL$kg21$min21, HRmax 194 beats form of training and be carefully and consumption for the push/pull were
per minute) values respectively. Blood sparingly incorporated into the overall 44 and 49% of V̇ O2max respectively,
lactate values averaged 15.06 mmol training plan (Table 1). levels that fall within the ACSM’s
post-pulling/pushing sessions, repre- However, the car push/pull performed moderate activity level range.
senting 131% of the treadmill V̇ O2max in the study of Berning et al. (3) was for When comparing the results of the car
test. Peak vertical jump also decreased 400 m, a much longer distance than the push/pull with different modalities of
from pre to post on average by 17%. 20–30 m the majority of strongman resistance training, we note that the
Berning et al. (3) noted 3 key points; competitors use to train this event car push/pull seems to be a more met-
peak exertion was achieved quickly (42). The greater duration was likely abolically demanding exercise with
somewhere between 50 and 100 m, a key contributing factor to the high higher heart rates achieved in a shorter
the car push/pull is an extremely lactate outputs and decreases in period (96% HRmax on average after
Strongman Training
Table 1
Acute physiological responses to strongman and gym training
VOLUME 36 | NUMBER 6 | DECEMBER 2014
Strongman
studies
Berning Car push and pull (with harness), 6 male strength trained IPST 5 min post 5 15.6 186 bpm (96% of
et al. (3) 2 different sessions, 1960 kg pushing for 400 m, 1 athletes, squat 2–33 (except mmol/L treadmill max)
maximal set bodyweight lactate)
Ghigiarelli Chain drag, tire flip, farmers walk, keg carry, and atlas 16 strength trained men IPST N/A N/A
et al. (9) stone lift. Three sets to muscular failure, 2-min rest
between sets, 3-min rest between exercises
Keogh et al. Tire flip. Two sets of 6 flips with a 232-kg tire and 3-min 5 strength trained athletes, 4 2.5 min 10.2 mmol/L 179 bpm (92% of age-
(16) rest strongman experienced PST predicted max)
West et al. 5 sets of 2 3 20 m (30-s recovery between drags, 120-s 11 strength trained males; Baseline 1.7 mmol/L N/A
(35) recovery between sets) maximal backward sleddrags minimum 4 y strength
(loaded with 75% body mass) training, 1RM back squat
180 6 25 kg
IPST 12 mmol/L N/A
15 min PST 9 mmol/L N/A
Gym-based
studies
Bloomer (4) 30-min intermittent free weight squatting, 70% of 1RM 10 healthy men, minimum IPST N/A 160 bpm, 82% of age max
to failure, 90- to 120-s rest between sets 1.53 bodyweight squat
Crewther Machine squats—power 8 sets of 6 reps @ 45% 1RM, 11 recreational active men, IPST N/A N/A
et al. (5) 3-min rest; hypertrophy 10 sets of 10 reps @ 75% 1RM, training minimum 2 y,
2-min rest; strength 6 sets of 4 reps @ 88% 1RM minimum twice per week
Date et al. 3 different volumes of power cleans; 3 3 3 @ 3RM (LV), 10 male recreational athletes, IPST LV 5 4.03 mmol/L; N/A
(6) 3 3 6 3 80–85% of 3RM (MV), and 3 3 9 3 70–75% of minimum 1-y Olympic-style MV 5 5.27
3RM (HV) 2-min rest weightlifting experience mmol/L; HV 5
7.43 mmol/L
Garbutt et al Circuit weight training: 3 circuits of 9 exercises; 40% 1RM, 10 healthy males, habitually IPST C1 5 4.8 mmol/L; Mean 69% of treadmill
(8) lower-body exercises 15 reps, upper 10 reps; 30-s rest active in sport and weight C2 5 6.9 mmol/L; max; C1 5 122 bpm;
between sets and exercises training C3 5 8.8 mmol/L C2 5 136 bpm; C3 5
149 bpm
Table 1
(continued )
Häkkinen Back squat session A 5 20 sets of 1 @ 1RM, 3-min rest; 10 top-level Finnish male IPST N/A N/A
and session B 5 10 sets of 10 @ 70% @ 1RM, 3-min rest strength athletes
Pakarinen
(11)
Kelleher Agonist-antagonist supersets (SS) and traditional (T) 10 recreationally active young IPST SS 5 11 mmol/L; N/A
et al. gym training; 6 exercises; 4 sets @ 10RM; superset men, minimum 2 yr of T 5 7mmol/L
(2010) group has participants perform 1 superset before 1- weight training experience
min rest
Schilling 2 groups of free weight squats 5 3 sets of 10 @ 70% 1RM 6 males average training 5 min post N/A N/A
et al. (28) with 1-min rest; machine group 5 leg curl, leg experience 9 y
extension, back extension, 3 sets of 10 @ 70% 1RM
with 1-min rest
Schwab Free weight squatting 5 session 1 moderate load (MWL), 6 experienced weight lifters IPST N/A N/A
et al. (30) 4 sets of 6 reps @ 90–95% of 6RM; session 2 light
weight (LWL), 4 sets of 9–10 @ 60–65% of MWL
Acute physiological responses to strongman activity
Strongman studies
Strength and Conditioning Journal | www.nsca-scj.com
(continued)
89
Strongman Training
bpm 5 beats per minute; C 5 circuit; FW 5 free weights; H 5 hypertrophy training; IPST 5 immediately post; M 5 machine; MS 5 strength training; NC 5 no change; P 5 power training;
FW 5 57%[; M 5
A 5 NC; B 5 sig[ High heart rates of 179 beats per minute
(92% age-predicted max) and lactate
3%Y
levels of 10.4 mmol/L were found at
N/A
N/A
N/A
the conclusion of the second set of tire
flips. Keogh et al. (16) concluded from
the results that the tire flip seems to
provide a relatively high degree of phys-
FW 5 12.5%[; M 538%Y
SS 5 superset; ST 5 Strongman training; STST 5 serum testosterone; XST 5 mixed strongman and gym training; T 5 traditional; [ 5 increase; Y 5 decrease.
LWL 5 26.6%, [STST
MWL 5 30.9%, [STST;
A 5 NC; B 5 sig[
N/A
N/A
N/A
N/A
N/A
N/A
N/A
Kelleher et al.
Häkkinen and
stone lift. The XST session included of other studies, with subjects perform- shown to have favorable effects on
the tire flip, back squat, chain drag, ing 5 exercises for 3 sets to muscular increasing muscle hypertrophy (25).
bench press, and stone lift in that failure. Research has shown a relation- For increasing muscle hypertrophy, re-
order. Gym exercises were loaded at ship between volume and testosterone searchers recommend sets of 8–12 reps
75% of 1RM performed for 10 reps. response (10). with loads of 70–85% of 1RM per-
Each protocol was performed with formed for 3–4 sets (1,18,21,22). Sets
a week of rest in-between to account PRACTICAL APPLICATIONS with these parameters generally last
for the changes in diurnal variation. The following practical applications 25–40 seconds and are somewhat com-
Salivary testosterone was recorded provided are given based on existing parable with strongman events that
immediately before, immediately research. It is acknowledged that the generally range from 30 to 60 seconds
after, and 30 minutes after each majority of existing studies in the field with loads that require the athlete
protocol. The H protocol induced tes- of strongman training is on acute re- to work for similar durations. These
tosterone increases of 137% immedi- sponses with a lone study on short- durations of 30–60 seconds are com-
ately after, the ST protocol a 70%, term training (40). For more in-depth monly used by competitive strong-
and the XST protocol a 54% increase practical applications, strongman train- man athletes when performing
immediately after; however, there were ing would need to be researched with 20–50 m sets of farmers’ carries and
no significant differences between the use of training studies, examining 30-m truck pulls (42). Strength and
groups. the chronic effects over a period of conditioning coaches often use
Ghigiarelli et al. (9) concluded that months to years. Despite the limita- sleds, farmers’ walks, and tire flips in
strongman training seems to be an tions of the research, we can provide the training prescription for non-
effective tool for increasing endoge- recommendations based on the acute strongman athletes, making use of
nous testosterone response in a similar responses (Table 2). these implements to train metabolic
pattern to that of recognized hypertro- Traditional gym training methods are conditioning, explosive strength/
phic protocols. This increase in testos- well established for the hypertrophy power, and muscle endurance (39).
terone has been speculated to facilitate training block (1,18,21,22); however, Because of the horizontal nature of
the growth response and increase recently strongman training was com- the exercises, it is problematic to pre-
in muscle protein synthesis (18). pared with traditional resistance train- scribe based on 1RM percentage
Although this position has recently ing using exercises matched for because these exercises are often per-
been challenged (36–38), Ghigiarelli biomechanical similarity and equal formed for a set horizontal distance
et al. (9) suggested that there is a larger loading. Between-group differences and the resistance force may also be
body of research supporting the former indicated small positive changes in influenced by the friction force, espe-
(12,19,27,29,32,33). A viable reason for muscle mass in the strongman group cially for events like the truck or
the large increases in testosterone compared with the traditional group, sled pull.
when compared with the other indicating strongman training may be Strongman exercises also require mul-
research (5,11,28,30) is that the total a viable modality of training for the tiple large muscle groups to contract
volume of work performed and muscle hypertrophy block of training (40). simultaneously; exercises such as the
mass used was higher than the majority Large time under tension has been farmers’ carry or yoke walk require
Table 2
Evidence-based practical applications for strongman training
Practical applications
Muscle Strongman lifts (e.g., tire, log, dumbbell press) 3–4 8–12 70–85% 1RM 60–120 s
hypertrophy
Strongman moving events (farmers’ walk, truck 3–4 20–50 m 15–17 Borg RPE scale 60–120 s
pull, sled drag, etc.) (20-point)
Metabolic Strongman moving events (farmers’ walk, truck 3–4 Minimum of 30 s 15+ on Borg RPE scale Minimum
conditioning pull, sled drag, etc.) (20-point) of 30 s
General Strongman moving events (farmers’ walk, truck 5 60 s, 5 different 15+ on Borg RPE scale 60 s
conditioning pull, sled drag, etc.) exercises (20-point)
RPE 5 rating of perceived exertion.