Brian Kling: EliteFitness.com Member, age 19, Muscular Strongman, Amazing Feats of Strength, Interview & Pics

We’ve all seen those extremely massive guys on ESPN such as Marius Pudzianowski and Magnus Samuelsson lifting cars, pulling trains, and squatting refrigerators. Well EliteFitness’ own rising strongman Brian Kling may very well join these beasts one day on the main stage. See what he had to say about his competitions, his excellent finish at Nationals, and some of the famous strongman competitors he’s hung out with.

When it comes to watching ESPN 2, let’s just say that I’m not exactly a big fan. I mean there’s only so much of the senior women’s volleyball tour or junior tetherball championships that a person can watch. However, there is one thing that ESPN 2 does put on that I actually do enjoy watching.

And that is the World’s Strongest Man event as it is the most awesome display of pure strength athletics out there. The event has grown so big that even those who don’t know anything about strength sports have grown accustomed to watching it. People love the excitement that viewing 300 pounders pulling a semi down the street or racing to put extremely heavy stones on pillars brings.

Well EliteFitness.com’s own Brian Kling competes in the same type of events and has already made his mark in the strongman world with a third place finish at the Teen Nationals after just two years of training!. At just 19 years old with tons of natural strength, the future is wide open for Kling in the sport. Maybe one day we will even see Kling on the biggest stage the sport has to offer in the World’s Strongest Man.

For now though, Brian has his sights set on the next step in his strongman career – making the North American Nationals. I recently had a chance to talk to Kling about his future goals for the sport as well as many other interesting things he had to add to our conversation..

George Spellwin: You recently had an excellent finish at the Teen Nationals where you placed 3rd. Were you extremely pumped to take 3rd and what will your goals be for next year?

Brian Kling: Yea, I was really happy to get 3rd place since I’ve only been training for strongman for two years now. My original goal when I started was just to make it to the Teen Nationals. But as I started training more and more for it, people started telling me that I was doing really good and I could do great at Nationals. So then I had to reconsider my goals and a podium finish at the Teen Nationals became my new one.
I learned a lot from the Maine competition that I was in where I expected to win it but instead finished 2nd place. I was just two wired in Maine and was making some major mistakes which cost me. I had to learn to become more calm and collected and not get too fired up and nervous. Not coming in first at Maine really helped me learn a lot.
Plus a lot of the older guys at the competitions have helped me out by giving me some tips. Instead of looking back at competitions and saying I could have won if I did this or that, they told me to write down what my worst performance was and work to improve upon it.

George Spellwin: I know that for the Teen Nationals you had to stay under 200 pounds to compete in the events you did. Can you tell our members a little about this competition and why you had to be under 200 pounds to compete?

Brian Kling: In a lot of competitions there are three weight classes. One class will be for people under 200 pounds, one class will be for people under 231 pounds, and the other class will be for people over 231.
The higher levels usually have two classes. One for people under 231 pounds and one for people over 231 pounds. The smaller competitions usually have 3 classes because there is so much of a difference between the amateurs and the rest of the field.
When I went to Teen Nationals though, you either had to be in the under 200 pound class or the over 200 pound class. Since I was 215 pounds at the time it only made sense for me to cut down below 200 or I would have been competing against guys who were 250 or 260 pounds.

George Spellwin: How difficult is it to keep yourself under 200 pounds?

Brian Kling: This is only the first time that I had to do that…for the Teen Nationals. Now I’m shooting for 220 or 230 pounds. But during training for the Teen Nationals I was doing things like eating fast food and the weight was still coming off.
But the worst was breakfast on the day of the competition because I could barely eat or drink anything because of the weigh-in. Then we walked around Chicago all day which made it even worse. This first time cutting (weight) will probably be my last because I don’t won’t to go through that again.

George Spellwin: When you’re competing, you have to do a lot of traveling. How do you train when on the road and also, how do you eat?

Brian Kling: I don’t really do any training on the road because we usually leave for the competition the night before. So there’s really no training involved. As far as my diet goes though, I just wing it. I’ll usually go get weighed in and then I can go and pig out after the weigh in is over. I’ll take in lots of fluids the night before I compete and I’ll usually eat quite a few protein bars and drink plenty of Gatorade. Also, I’ll load up on a bunch of carbs the week of my competition so I have plenty of energy.

George Spellwin: Now you’re normally one of the younger, if not the youngest, guys at the strongman competitions that you go to. What is your age and how old is the competition that you’re normally facing?

Brian Kling: Well I’m 19 right now and a lot of the guys that I compete against in strongman competitions are usually in their mid to late 20’s. There are also a lot of guys who are in their early and late 30’s that I go up against. They have a masters division too for guys who are over 40 but the ones I compete against are any where from mid 20’s to their 30’s.

George Spellwin: What do you normally eat before a competition?

Brian Kling: I usually don’t eat much at all before a competition. I get a lot of butterflies the day of the competition and my stomach gets really tight.

George Spellwin: A lot of your competitions are captured on video and put on YouTube. Some of these will be appearing in your interview too. What I was wondering is who does the recording of these events and how many strongman videos do you think you have on YouTube?

Brian Kling: I’ve only done four competitions so far. My first was last summer, then there was Virginia, Maine, and then Teen Nationals. There’s usually 5 events in each competition so I’ve got about 20 strongman videos on there right now. My dad got a little excited when he was taping the Nationals though because he was cheering too and a few of the videos got messed up. When I go long distances to competitions he’s usually the one who tapes those. But when it’s a local one, I usually have one of my friends tape it.

George Spellwin: Can you tell me a little about some of the events you do in a strongman competition and what your favorite one is?

Brian Kling: There’s the Log Press which done with an 8” diameter log and it’s pretty tough to clean but easy to press. They also use a 10” and 12” log at some competitions and these are easier to clean but a bitch to press because the weight is so off-center on these.
Then there’s the Farmer’s Walk which is where you have a weight in both hands and they’re plate loaded. Then there’s the Yolk where its got two bars that come down on the sides and you get under it like a squat.
My favorite is the Atlas Stones where you lift these huge stones onto these platforms that can usually get up to 52” high. There’s the Power Stairs too where you’re holding a huge weight and have to pull it up all of these steps.
Another thing is the Fingle Fingers but I don’t see this at too many local competitions. The steel beams they use in the Fingle Fingers are too expensive for people to make for small contests. Another thing that I don’t see too often is the Hercules Hold which is where you’re standing in a crucifix position trying to hang onto a couple of handles attached to pillars. I did hear of one guy in New Hampshire though that made is own Hercules Hold apparatus but that’s about it.
The Car Deadlift is another one that I can think of and this is where you’re basically lifting a car but it’s higher than a normal deadlift would be.

George Spellwin: A lot of people that I talk to about strongman competitions think that the Atlas Stones look like the toughest event. Now I know you just said they are your favorite event so what do you think of this?

Brian Kling: Yea a lot of people do think that the Atlas Stones are pretty tough and it’s one people love to watch so it is usually the last event. The first time I did the Atlas Stones was in the gym and no one there could lift them. I remember picking up the 280 pound stone and setting it up on the 42” platform, which is pretty short to me now.
I did that with no training and they say you kind of have to be a natural at the stones to be good at them. The best advice I’ve ever heard about lifting them is to make your body act like a whip. Plus you just have to get fired up and lift them up there.

George Spellwin: Do you have any favorites in the sport that you look up to?

Brian Kling: Mark Felix is one of my favorites. He’s one of the older dudes and he’s still strong as fuck. I think he is like 41 and it’s impressive that he can still do what he does. Kevin Knee, he’s usually the youngest competitor and he grew up in the town just over from me. He started out in the same gym as me too and I didn’t know that until I started doing strongman training.
I met him before at the gym…I met some other guys too like Dave Ostlund and Mark Felix at competitions before. They’re really just like any other guys except for they’re like 300 pounds and big as fuck.

George Spellwin: I’ve seen some of the workouts that you do and they look pretty intense. Is there any one in particular that is your favorite?

Brian Kling: In terms of my weight workouts, I have two favorites. The deadlift and squat are the two that I like doing the most but I have to cycle on each. Its seems like every time I start doing good with the deadlift, I hit a plateau and so I get pissed and start doing squats more heavily until I hit a plateau there and then go back to deadlift. I hate the bench though!

George Spellwin: Now you are sponsored by the EliteFitness.com boards and can be found on the EF forums under the name Big_BK. What have the EliteFitness forums meant to you in terms of the sponsorship thing and as far as building camaraderie with other strength athletes?

Brian Kling: The EliteFitness forums are a really good resource to get a hold of guys who have already done what I do. These guys let me know the mistakes they made in the past and really help me to avoid doing the same thing. They are helping me get to the point that they are at but in a shorter time span.
As far as the sponsorship goes, it is what allows me to go to the events that I do as this stuff costs a lot of money. Strongman competitors have a lot of expenses like their equipment, hotel rooms, and traveling costs. I go to school right now so I don’t have time to get a full time job right now. If it wasn’t for the EliteFitness sponsorship I wouldn’t be able to put as much time into the strongman competitions as I do. A lot of the strongman guys who have to work full time only do the competitions as more of a hobby.

George Spellwin: You also have a blog on EF (found here //bigbk.efblogs.com/) that I really enjoy checking out. How often can members expect to find posts from you on there?

Brian Kling: I post on the blog multiple times a week. I’ve recently been putting my training sessions on there. Sometimes I’ll put my workouts from Monday and Tuesday up there and sometimes I’ll put Thursday’s and Friday’s on the blog. Overall, I’d say that I post on the blog at least a couple of times a week.

George Spellwin: What are your future goals for competing in strongman competitions and where do you hope to see yourself in the future?

Brian Kling: My goal for next year is to make it to the Nationals (North American). I’m not expecting a huge finish there because there will be some extremely tough competition there. The best of the best will be there. I’m just looking to improve and get better at the sport. Hopefully, in my mid to late 20’s, I will be able to go for a podium finish.

George Spellwin: Is there anything else that you’d like to add?

Brian Kling: I just want to thank my sponsors EliteFitness for supporting me in all of my competitions and Muscle Pharm for the great supplements.

Here is a look at one of Brian Kling’s intense workouts and supplement program. This one involves mostly deadlifting along with some shrugs and hammer curls:

Deficit Deads(standing on 100lb plates) -
135lbs x warmup
225lbs x8
315lbs x6
405lbs x3
455lbs x1
These were All bestless pulls, only equip I use is chalk!
DB Shrugs (with straps) -
100lbs 10 reps x3 sets
Real Wide Pullups -
BW x5 3 sets
Hammer Curls -
50lbs x6, x5, x8

Supplement Program:

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Author: George Spellwin