Brutal. Effective. Fun. The Case for Strongman Training

by- Josh Bryant

Tom Haviland, Josh’s long-time client.

As my late mentor Dr. Fred Hatfield said,

“There’s good, better, and best. And strongman training is the best.”

That wasn’t motivational fluff. That came from a man who held world records, coached champions across multiple sports, and backed every word with data, sweat, and blood.

Strongman training isn’t a gimmick. It’s not a trend. It’s one of the most complete forms of physical training known to man. Period.

Grab the Bible of Strongman Training HERE.

WHAT IS STRONGMAN TRAINING?

Strongman training is the three-headed hellhound of the strength world—powerlifting’s limit strength, Olympic lifting’s explosiveness, and bodybuilding’s hypertrophy all fused into one brutal, beautiful discipline.

Whether you’re loading Atlas stones, flipping tires, dragging sleds, or bear-hugging sandbags—you’re building:

• ✅ Limit strength
• ✅ Grip strength
• ✅ Explosive strength
• ✅ A powerful posterior chain
• ✅ Core strength
• ✅ Real-world conditioning
• ✅ Functional mobility
• ✅ Mental resilience

Strongman doesn’t build beach bodies. It builds battering rams.

STRONGMAN SAVES TIME

Proficient Olympic lifting can take years to master. You’ll need a translator, a physics degree, and a guy named Vlad yelling at you. And even then, you might walk away banged up physically—with your ego limping right behind it.

Strongman?
A couple pointers, and you’re up and running.

Think about it—some of the best athletes in the country have dog water technique on cleans, but I can teach a JV football player to farmers carry in a couple of minutes.

Tactical athletes, firefighters, bouncers, single moms, weekend warriors—folks with real-world time constraints—don’t have the luxury to spend years mastering Olympic lifting. I respect the discipline, but let’s be real: it’s tedious and technical. Strongman gets you strong fast without sacrificing results.

FUNCTIONAL STRENGTH THAT ISN’T A JOKE

“Functional fitness” these days looks like a mix of jazzercise and a seizure on a Bosu ball. Here’s the truth: if it ain’t heavy, it ain’t functional.

Strongman makes you move awkward, heavy objects—like life demands. It trains you in weird positions with unstable loads, where stabilizers get activated, and muscles you didn’t know you had start pulling OT.

And here’s where it gets wild—strongman training can “trick you into lifting more weight.” In a 2009 study by McGill, McDermott, and Fenwick published in the Journal of Strength and Conditioning Research, researchers found that during a yoke walk, athletes produced hip abduction forces 112% higher than in their maximal isolated test. Why? Because by stiffening their torso and bracing properly, they were able to move supramaximal loads their hips normally couldn’t handle.

Translation? The body recruits more force and muscle when the task is real and brutal. Strongman taps into strength reserves you didn’t know you had.

We’re not balancing on one leg like a flamingo on Xanax. We’re hoisting odd objects, adjusting in real time, and generating massive tension in planes barbells never touch.

You’re not training for a TikTok video—you’re training to drag someone out of a burning building, carry a deer carcass uphill, or handle business when chaos breaks out at the local Quick Sack.

TIME UNDER TENSION = MUSCLE

Want to grow muscle? You need serious tension—and many scientists believe the magic happens when you’re under that tension for 20 to 70 seconds. That’s exactly how long most strongman events last. Only instead of preacher curls and cable crossovers, you’re manhandling brutally heavy, awkward weight your body isn’t used to.

You’re overloading the body with weight greater than your one-rep max in traditional lifts, for longer durations. That’s how you spike growth hormone and get jacked.

Strongman training builds real muscle in the areas that command respect—forearms, traps, upper back. These are the muscles of men who do things. Not the guys who just flex in the mirror.

Let’s just say—if you’re wandering around the Cairo fish market at midnight or in Ciudad Juarez trying to find a motel or your Airbnb, a strongman physique makes you look like someone not to mess with.

STRONGMAN = HIIT ON STEROIDS

Strongman training is real high-intensity interval training. Sprint-like work with heavyweight. Movements that spike your heart rate, burn fat, and leave you looking like a Greek statue forged from steel and suffering.

As Dr. Hatfield said,

“Life is anaerobic.”

William Kramer, one of the most respected sports scientists alive, calls the modern battlefield “anaerobic.” That applies to sports, to fights, to anything high intensity. You’ve got to be able to move heavy and move fast, without begging for oxygen.

Strongman training prepares you.

GRIP STRENGTH: THE FORGOTTEN POWER

Nobody with twig forearms ever did a 600 pound frame carry.

Grip strength is a huge predictor of athletic success, quality of life, and even longevity.
You grip heavy sandbags, awkward handles, fat implements. And when your grip goes, the whole lift goes. So strongman doesn’t train grip—it demands it.

Bonus: strongman grip work builds forearms like veiny tree trunks. No isolation needed.

TRIPLE EXTENSION WITHOUT TECHNICAL BS

Olympic lifting has been overhyped by guys who love Excel sheets more than results. Unless you’re a lifter on Team USA, you don’t need to be catching snatches at 6am with your knees screaming.

Strongman builds explosive triple extension without the technical headaches. Think of:

• Tire flips
• Sandbag loads
• Keg throws
• Stone over bar
• Yoke runs
• Real-world car pushes and pulls

These train hip/knee/ankle extension harder than a clean—and you won’t miss the lift because you caught it two inches forward. You load it, you flip it, you win.

Bob Jodoin said it best:

“Stone lifting starts with your knuckles on the ground and ends at full triple extension—like a perfect football tackle.”

You explode through, not under.

FUN + EFFECTIVE = ADHERENCE

Here’s the deal: boring training doesn’t get done. Novelty without results is garbage.
Strongman gives you both.

As Michigan State legend Ken Mannie said:

“It’s like game day every day.”

You show up, you compete, and you walk out better. It’s exciting. It’s gritty. It makes you want to come back. That’s the secret ingredient in all great programs—adherence.

FINAL THOUGHTS

Strongman competitors are the strongest humans walking the earth. Give them a barbell and they’d ruin records in squats, deads, overheads, and grip.

In 2018, the average World’s Strongest Man finalist weighed 386 lbs—and moved better than the average 186-pound desk jockey. That’s not hype—that’s reality.

Strongman is simple. It’s brutal. And it’s adaptable to anyone. Whether you’re looking to dominate the field, build real-world strength, or finally enjoy training again—it delivers.

Plug it into your program or follow one my structured plans Click HERE. Either way, grab something heavy, pick it up awkwardly, and carry it like your life depends on it.