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I'm currently training for my fourth strongman competition on the 22th of December. The events at this particular competition are more strength orientated rather than endurance orientated (tyre flip, 300lb x 2 suitcase walk for distance, log lift, deadlift and stone load up to 330 lb) which is great for me, because I'm a competitive Westside-style powerlifter.
When I competed in another competition a month ago, I discovered a few things: First, when doing a truck pull, your legs are not working all that hard (apart from getting the truck moving at first) and that afterwards, you are more aerobically tired than anything else. Second, Westside training is a great basis for most of the events at a strongman competition. For instance, I was able to load a 363 lb (165 Kg) stone, while only two (out of 16) of the experienced strongmen who do not have a powerlifting background were able to also do this.
This made me realise that Westside training is a great basis for strongman competitions because of the emphasis on the development of the real power muscles in the back, gluetes, hams and midsection, as well as the development of explosive strength, both of which are very applicable to strongman events. I started wondering if the opposite might also be true. Louie Simmons says that sled dragging is one of the most beneficial things that any powerlifter can do. My truck-pull experience, however, made me wonder if there was not a better way of dragging something with the emphasis on power development.
I then got the following idea: Connect a rope (roughly 30 feet or so) to a heavy non-wheeled object like an 800lb tyre lying on its side. At the other end of the rope, connect a harness (simply a loop) made from an old car safety belt with some padding over it. Then, facing away from the tyre, put the loop of the harness around your neck so that the rope runs between your legs. Have someone place a step ladder flat on the ground in front of you. Kneel over forward until you are basically in a crawling position with both your feet on the first step of the ladder and your hands grabbing onto a step of the ladder somewhat ahead of your face. Remember the rope is now passing under your belly, between your legs all the way back to the tyre.
You now basically proceed to perform a heavy horizontal squat/sumo deadlift movement with your neck straining forward to prevent the rope from pulling your head between your legs. At the same time, your arms do sort of a rowing movement, pulling the ladder towards you. As soon as you come close to a full lockout, step forwards with your feet onto the next step of the ladder and repeat to the end of the ladder.
The ladder now enables you to perform a far heavier dragging movement than you would while simply pulling a tyre over a lawn or tarmac because you've now got something to push against (the ladder), meaning that the grip of your feet on the surface does not become the limiting factor as before. Also, because the rope runs between your legs, it tends to pull you forward, forcing you to fight against it with your midsection to prevent your head from ending up underneath your ass.
My logic tells me that this might be the ultimate sled drag with the potential to realise BIG gains on your squat and deadlift.
Also, doing power steps (basically standing at the bottom of a staircase with your legs spread over a stack of weights with a t-handle for a grip and the repeatedly deadlifting the stack onto the next step) might be extremely beneficial to developing the lockout of the deadlift. Doing power steps, you really have to get a very high lockout in order for the weight stack to reach the next higher step. You can go heavy here (I'd guess up to 600lb or so).
I'm currently busy collecting everything I'll need to perform there exercises. For those of you that read all the way though this loooong post, thanks for doing so and please let me know what you think. I might also report back with my findings in a few weeks.
Cheers,
Arnie
When I competed in another competition a month ago, I discovered a few things: First, when doing a truck pull, your legs are not working all that hard (apart from getting the truck moving at first) and that afterwards, you are more aerobically tired than anything else. Second, Westside training is a great basis for most of the events at a strongman competition. For instance, I was able to load a 363 lb (165 Kg) stone, while only two (out of 16) of the experienced strongmen who do not have a powerlifting background were able to also do this.
This made me realise that Westside training is a great basis for strongman competitions because of the emphasis on the development of the real power muscles in the back, gluetes, hams and midsection, as well as the development of explosive strength, both of which are very applicable to strongman events. I started wondering if the opposite might also be true. Louie Simmons says that sled dragging is one of the most beneficial things that any powerlifter can do. My truck-pull experience, however, made me wonder if there was not a better way of dragging something with the emphasis on power development.
I then got the following idea: Connect a rope (roughly 30 feet or so) to a heavy non-wheeled object like an 800lb tyre lying on its side. At the other end of the rope, connect a harness (simply a loop) made from an old car safety belt with some padding over it. Then, facing away from the tyre, put the loop of the harness around your neck so that the rope runs between your legs. Have someone place a step ladder flat on the ground in front of you. Kneel over forward until you are basically in a crawling position with both your feet on the first step of the ladder and your hands grabbing onto a step of the ladder somewhat ahead of your face. Remember the rope is now passing under your belly, between your legs all the way back to the tyre.
You now basically proceed to perform a heavy horizontal squat/sumo deadlift movement with your neck straining forward to prevent the rope from pulling your head between your legs. At the same time, your arms do sort of a rowing movement, pulling the ladder towards you. As soon as you come close to a full lockout, step forwards with your feet onto the next step of the ladder and repeat to the end of the ladder.
The ladder now enables you to perform a far heavier dragging movement than you would while simply pulling a tyre over a lawn or tarmac because you've now got something to push against (the ladder), meaning that the grip of your feet on the surface does not become the limiting factor as before. Also, because the rope runs between your legs, it tends to pull you forward, forcing you to fight against it with your midsection to prevent your head from ending up underneath your ass.
My logic tells me that this might be the ultimate sled drag with the potential to realise BIG gains on your squat and deadlift.
Also, doing power steps (basically standing at the bottom of a staircase with your legs spread over a stack of weights with a t-handle for a grip and the repeatedly deadlifting the stack onto the next step) might be extremely beneficial to developing the lockout of the deadlift. Doing power steps, you really have to get a very high lockout in order for the weight stack to reach the next higher step. You can go heavy here (I'd guess up to 600lb or so).
I'm currently busy collecting everything I'll need to perform there exercises. For those of you that read all the way though this loooong post, thanks for doing so and please let me know what you think. I might also report back with my findings in a few weeks.
Cheers,
Arnie
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