Wikipedia

Strongman

(Redirected from Strongperson)
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.[1] Strongman competitions are known for their high intense and grueling nature, pushing athletes to their physical and mental limits.[2] The winners are selected based on a relative scoring system, where participants gather points for each individual event.[3] An athlete who engages in the sport of strongman is also called a 'strongman'.[4]

Etymology

edit

Many sources state that strongman is a man who performs remarkable feats possessing enormous amounts of strength.[5][6] In the 19th century, the term 'strongman' was referred to an exhibitor of strength during circus performances.[7]

History

edit
 
Angus MacAskill was a notable strongman of the 19th century.

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.[8]

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. Some of the most famous competitions of this type are World's Strongest Man, 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.[4] More than 30 countries also hold national-level strongman competitions.[9]

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.[10]

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,[11] including:

Notable strongmen

edit

Traditional strongmen

edit

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

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).

Additionally, the following 49 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, 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 and 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).[12]

  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– 75 26 34.67%
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 Jón Páll Sigmarsson   Iceland 1982–1992 29 13 44.82%
11 Magnús Ver Magnússon   Iceland 1987–2005 48 12 25.00%
12 Magnus Samuelsson   Sweden 1995–2008 63 12 19.05%
13 Mitchell Hooper   Canada 2022– 20 11 55.00%
14 Jouko Ahola   Finland 1994–2002 22 11 50.00%
15 Riku Kiri   Finland 1987–1999 25 11 44.00%
16 Oleksii Novikov   Ukraine 2016– 44 11 25.00%
17 Mikhail Koklyaev   Russia 2005–2014 50 11 22.00%
18 Matjaz Belsak   Slovenia 2014–2020 64 11 17.19%
19 Mateusz Kieliszkowski   Poland 2014– 43 10 23.25%
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– 39 8 20.51%
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 Flemming Rasmussen   Denmark 1995–2001 19 5 26.32%
35 Pavlo Kordiyaka   Ukraine 2017– 23 5 21.74%
36 Mykhailo Starov   Ukraine 2004–2006 24 5 20.83%
37 Evan Singleton   USA 2018– 27 5 18.52%
38 Johannes Årsjö   Sweden 2007–2017 39 5 12.82%
39 Mikhail Shivlyakov   Russia 2011–2021 44 5 11.36%
39 Stojan Todorchev   Bulgaria 2005–2017 44 5 11.36%
41 Raivis Vidzis   Latvia 2002–2009 46 5 10.87%
41 Jarek Dymek   Poland 2000–2010 46 5 10.87%
43 Oskar Ziółkowski   Poland 2020– 13 4 30.77%
44 Adam Roszkowski   Poland 2021– 16 4 25.00%
45 Mike Burke   USA 2011–2015 19 4 21.05%
46 Trey Mitchell   USA 2016– 25 4 16.00%
47 Tom Stoltman    UK / Scotland 2016– 30 4 13.33%
48 Glenn Ross    UK / Northern Ireland 1997–2011 33 4 12.12%
49 Jamie Reeves    UK / England 1988–1999 38 4 10.52%
50 Rauno Heinla   Estonia 2009– 55 4 7.27%

- As of 8 September 2024

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.

See also

edit

References

edit
  1. ^ "What is Strongman and Its Training Needs". trainingstation.co.uk. July 24, 2024. Retrieved September 10, 2024.
  2. ^ 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.
  3. ^ "About Strongman - competitors are tested for their pure strength". Robert Wood for Topend Sports Website. Retrieved 10 September 2024.
  4. ^ a b "The origins of Strongman sport, a story of strength and challenge". Kingsbox. 15 June 2023. Retrieved 10 September 2024.
  5. ^ "Strongman". www.collinsdictionary.com. Retrieved 10 September 2024.
  6. ^ "Strongman". www.dictionary.com. Retrieved 10 September 2024.
  7. ^ "STRONGMAN". ERA-FIT Ltd Bespoke Fitness Systems. Retrieved 2019-09-05.[permanent dead link]
  8. ^ "Notable Strongmen and their fascinating feats of strength". 20 May 2017.
  9. ^ "STRONGMAN CONTESTS". strongmanarchives.com. Retrieved 2022-04-13.
  10. ^ "Strongman Training at Home". Andre Adams. Retrieved 10 September 2024.
  11. ^ "Strongman Events". strongman.org. Retrieved 2012-12-28.
  12. ^ "Strongman Archives - Athletes". Strongman Archives. April 5, 2022. Retrieved April 6, 2022.
edit
 
Wikimedia Commons has media related to Strongmen.
Retrieved from "https://en.wiki.x.io/w/index.php?title=Strongman&oldid=1245360141"