14 Things you NEED for your First Strongman Contest

BILL KAZMAIERLEGENDARY AMERICAN STRONGMAN

1 4 T H I N G S Y O U N E E D F O R Y O U R F I R S T S T R O N G M A N

C O N T E S TBy Jedd Johnson, CSCS

1 4 T h i n g s y o u N E E D f o r y o u r F i r s t S t r o n g m a n C o n t e s t • J e d d J o h n s o n , C S C S • D i e s e l C r e w • d i e s e l c r e w. c o m

14 Things you NEED for your First Strongman Contest

By Jedd Johnson, CSCS

Strongman is a great sport.

Each year, more and more athletes join the amateur strongman ranks in hopes of becoming a champion and perhaps even receiving their Pro Card. At one time, it was my dream to compete with the best in the world on the grand stage of the World’s Strongest Man championship, or the Strongman Super Series championship.

I can still remember the first contest I competed in. It was in Revere, Massachusetts and it was organized by CJ Murphy and Bob Jodoin of Total Performance Sports.

Pete Aagard, Smitty, and Me – Morning of Our First Contest at Total Performance Sports

We knew very little about the sport and participating in the contest was more of just an opportunity for adventure than a shot at a new career. We had no equipment so we had to do the best we could with stuff we had lying around. Plus we had no idea about proper preparation for the day of the event.

I actually feel with our limited experience, our training went pretty well and Murph and Bob were very helpful in get-ting us in competitive shape for the contest. Unfortunately, there was still a ton to learn about some of the things we needed to have with us the day of the contest.

By writing this, I am hoping to give you some information you can use for the day of your first contest to help you be successful.

1 4 T h i n g s y o u N E E D f o r y o u r F i r s t S t r o n g m a n C o n t e s t! J e d d J o h n s o n , C S C S

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You may think that some of these tidbits are pointless, but I can assure you, they will make a huge difference. You’ve been working for months to get into shape and be as strong as you can for this show. All of this will help to assure you success.

And remember – this is your first contest – all the rest of the competitors have probably done this before. Some may know more about technique. Some may know more about strategy, and some may be in a bit better shape than you. That’s giving away a lot of experience. Why give away any more?

The day of the contest, the time is over for building strength – you are as strong as you are going to get and you have done an outstanding job in your preparation. Now it is time to make sure that day of the contest you have all the bases covered. In this multi-part series, I am going to give you 14 things that you MUST HAVE WITH YOU on the day of the contest to make sure you do your absolute best.

1. Tons of Drinks

It is important to keep yourself hydrated at the strongman event. Even small amounts of dehydration can result in losses of strength, stamina, and cognitive ability. When we were training for our first contest, the dude that won the light weight category the previous year told us to bring as much fluid as possible. He said he brought a gallon jug filled with water and that wasn’t even close to enough to keep him fully hydrated, but his preparation was good enough for him to win that year.

You’ve worked for months to be in top shape for the show. Don’t sacrifice all that by forgetting fluids. Buy a bunch at the Dollar Store or the gas station, and take it with you to the show. Don’t just get Sports Drinks. Mix in some water. In my experience, if I drink too much pure sports drinks, I get acid reflux and you don’t want that if you have to bend over to pick up stones or to pull a bunch of reps in the deadlift.

If you are susceptible to acid reflux, then grab some antacids like Tums or Rolaids while you are at it…

2. Ice Chest / Cooler

Nobody wants to drink piss warm water during a strongman contest, so bring a decent sized cooler with you. The night or morning before the contest, go get at least two big bags of ice. Throw a layer of ice in about two inches thick. Then throw in a layer of drinks, then another layer of ice, then drinks, and so on. It is better to have more drinks than you need during the show. If you have extra, you can drink them down after the show to recover and keep yourself feeling human while you travel home.


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3. Wrist Wraps

Wrist wraps are important for strongman because you want to fortify each joint that is working in order to make sure you are able to properly express your strength and power through that joint. Even if you haven’t been using wraps in your training working your way to the show, go get some. Wrist wraps will secure your wrist, making you stronger, as well as protect you from injury.

Remember, the overhead lifts are usually the first lift at the contest. If you decide not to wrap your wrist and in your rush to push out as many reps as possible you end up tweaking your wrist or getting injured, you’ll be feeling it the whole way through the contest. Wrap ‘em up, stay strong, and get through all the events without any painful distractions.

4. Belt

Belts are a necessity at the strongman con-test and everybody there (that is competi-tive) uses them. Some people even use a combination of a back brace or back wrap with a belt over top of it. Dave Ostlund once told me that he would use two belts over top of a back brace for the Yoke Walk to make sure that he finished the event as quickly as possible on game day.

Dave Ostlund is one of the top competi-tors in the United States, so you’d better believe that I was strapped in every time I was carrying a yoke.

However, in some cases you should leave your belt on the sidelines. Two events you should NOT wear a belt for are the tire flip and the atlas stones. In the tire flip, you have to be able to bend way down to grasp the bottom of the tire and then ex-plosively pop it up to flip it, all the while breathing in lots of oxygen. This can be challenging if you’re wearing a tight-ass belt, so toss it aside before hitting the tire.

The same goes for lifting the atlas stones. You’re bending over and moving fast between the stones. That belt is just going to get in the way, so leave it in your lawn chair.


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5. Cleats

At one contest I did, I had to pull a giant SUV backwards while holding a V- handle. Normally, this would have been no problem, but at this par-ticular contest, we were pulling on grass. With the dew of the morning still glistening in the sunshine, I knew I was in trouble for this event, because all I had were sneakers.

Luckily, a friend of mine who was in attendance had a pair of cleats in his vehicle and he let me borrow them for the event. They were a size too small, they had an ugly green stripe on them, and they were high tops, but I wasn’t worried about fashion – I wanted to win the event. So, I wore them and was able to finish.

I know for a fact with how slick the grass was, there was no way I could have finished the pull with just sneakers on. Make sure you contact the promoter and find out if any pulling events are going to take place on grass, and if they are, make sure you have a set of cleats in your equipment bag on contest day.

If you played baseball or football in high school, you might still have an old set of spikes or cleats. If you don’t have them anymore or never played those sports, then do what I did last year when I needed a cheap pair for a softball tour-nament. Just google “discount spikes” or something like that. I was able to pick up a perfectly good pair of plastic cleats, size 14, that have lasted me two years and I paid less than $20 for them and didn’t have to drive anywhere to go get them.

6. Chair

After you finish a demanding cardio event like the tire flip or a medley, you don’t want to stand around when you finish – YOU WANT TO BE ABLE TO SIT DOWN.

Unfortunately, there isn’t always a good comfortable spot to sit at the strongman contest. This could force you to sit or lay down on the floor in between events which can wear on your neck and especially your lower back.

Bring a lawn chair of some sort. This will give you a spot to rest after an event or to wait until your turn. Remember, some of these contests are

extremely long and can be boring, especially if there are a lot of competitors across many weight classes.

What type of chair? I like the ones that fold up in a tube shape and can be stored in a canvas bag. They transport in your vehicle easily. They also can be stuffed into a decent sized lifting bag, which can’t be said about the flat- folding chairs or chez lounges. Ditch those fossils. Not only are they hard to transport, but if you sit in them you will lose some serious cool points.


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7. Chalk

You need to bring your own chalk when you go to your first strong-man contest. You just can’t rely on the promoter to have enough available. All the guys competing are going to be using it. Sure enough, there’s always a dude that isn’t happy with a block of chalk so he crushes the entire thing in his hand and turns it to dust. Next thing you know, a strong wind picks up and half the block of chalk blows down the parking lot like a tumbleweed in the desert.

So, this is what you need to do. Get yourself a decent size Rubber-maid container or other plastic container with a lid that snaps on really tight. Stick

the chalk block in this container and keep it with you. The container should fit pretty well right into your bag that you take to the contest.

Another thing that we did for years is put a garbage bag inside a pail and then threw the chalk inside the garbage bag. When we needed chalk it was all right there. We could stick our hands down inside the bucket and chalk up real well and since the pail was nice and high, any dust would just get caught in the garbage bag and we would not lose any of the dust down the prairie…

8. Sun Block

At the very beginning of the day, you should load up on sun block prior to the contest, especially if you are competing outside. The worst thing that can happen during an outside strongman contest is getting sunburned. Sunburn leaves you dehydrated and fatigued – two things that make your strength levels plummet.

I usually competed with a tee shirt on, so I would make sure to cover my arms thoroughly, as well as coating my nose and face. I would also often wear a baseball hat during the contest, so my head was covered. I do not recommend apply-ing sun block to your forehead, especially if you sweat a lot and definitely not if you have water proof sun block. If the water proof sun block gets into your eyes, it can be very difficult to get out of them. I have actually heard of people who have had to go to the emergency room because water proof unblock ended up getting into their eyes and doctors had to use a special solution to get it out of their eyes.

Remember what Terry Silver tells Daniel in Karate Kid Part III. If a man can’t see, he can’t fight. He can’t very well win a strongman contest either.


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9. Change of Clothes

If you are pushing the fluids and pushing your limits, you are going to be sweating your ass off. For that reason, you should have at least one full change of clothes that you can jump into about half way through the competition. I’m talk-ing everything from head to toe – not just a different tee shirt and shorts.

If you are going to be driving several hours back home after the contest like we used to do then you probably want to have another extra set of clothes for the drive back.

10. Foam Roller

Warm-up is important for being successful at your first Strongman comp. Make sure you warm up the right way. Pack your foam roller, a dense medicine ball, or pipe made of cardboard or PVC. This will get your soft tissue right before the comp.

I’ll tell you another reason to have a foam roller with you at a strongman comp. In 2005, I did a backwards truck pull. My quads swelled up so bad from the ridiculous pump, that I couldn’t even move afterwards. In fact, I am convinced that I would not have been able to continue if I had not gotten Rick Walker to stretch me out. I am also convinced that if I’d had my foam roller there, I would have been able to loosen back up my quicker.

11. Jump Stretch Bands

Again, warm-up is important. You don’t want to head into one of the events cold or you could end up getting injured and be-ing unable to finish the contest. What I would do is carry some purple Jump Stretch Bands right in my equipment bag that I could pull out and hit some reps with to get warmed up prior to the event. I liked to hit squats, good mornings, rows, military press, flyes, etc to get the blood flowing before going out to lift.

12. Stone Tacky for Hands & Arms


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If the stones are in the contest, then you are going to need tacky in order to keep a level playing field with the rest of the competitors. Everybody uses it. You are going to need it, and you never know if the other competitors are going to let you borrow it or be a prick about it. Get some and keep it in your cooler until just before the stone event. You want it to stay sticky so it helps adhere your skin to the stones. If you leave it out, it will get greasy and will not offer much for improving your grip or speed in the stones.

13. Spray Tacky for Shoes

Believe it or not, some promot-ers will allow you to spray your hands with spray tack for stone flipping. They will also sometimes allow you to spray the bottoms of your shoes. We attended one strongman contest held an ice hockey rink. The ice was covered with a very slippery layer of plastic cover-ing, and the competitors could spry the bottom of their shoes to keep from losing their traction in events like the tire flip and keg run.

14. Tacky Remover


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You’re going to need something to get the tacky off your hands and arms after the atlas stone event. You don’t want that stuff all over the rest of your gear, your car, and your girlfriend. Unfortunately, many peo-ple do not know how to remove tacky once they are done with it. Don’t scrub for half an hour with soap and water – re-move that stuff in minutes with some baby oil gel. Put a generous amount on your hand and rub vigorously over the area with tacky. After rubbing, wipe off with a towel and most of the tacky will be cleared off. There may still be some spots here and there, so just apply more gel.

Once you clean off the tacky with the gel, then is a good time to hit the soap and water. This is good to do in order to make sure that you get all the gel off your hands before the next event. Leftover gel will make holding things very difficult if you

don’t get it all the way off, so attention to detail is important here.

Well, my friends, there you go. 14 total things you need to have with you in your bag when you go to your first strong-man contest. Now, obviously this is not and exhaustive list. Many people have already left suggestions in comments in the other two posts, including first aid kits and other things.

Until next time, all the best in your training! -Jedd-

P.S. If your first contest has the Atlas Stones for an event, you might want to check out our Stone Lifting DVD. It has eve-rything you need to know to prepare you for “the stones”, including how to apply tacky, various techniques for lifting the stones off the ground, how to load stones how to incorporate stone lifts in your daily lifting routine.


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About the AuthorJedd Johnson played Basketball and Baseball at Towanda High School in Pennsylvania. Later, he played Division 2 baseball for two years at Mansfield University of Pennsylvania, before taking on strength training as his main interest. In 1999, Jedd and Jim Smith, ‘Smitty,’ formed the Diesel Crew and began formulating the Diesel Method, a strength and conditioning system involving the incorporation of various training disciplines. Now, the Diesel Crew is recognized as the LeaderS in Grip Strength.

Jedd has Certified Strength and Conditioning Specialist credentials through the National Strength and Conditioning As-sociation, and is a regular speaker/presenter at the Pennsylvania State Strength and Conditioning Clinic. Jedd has been featured at Zach Even-Esh’s Underground Strength Clinic.

Contest Experience: 2003 - TPS Massachusetts State Strongman Championships

- Battle for Grip Supremacy 2004 - TPS Massachusetts State Strongman Championships

- Maryland’s Strongest Man - Global Grip Challenge 2004

2005 - TPS Grip Assault - Wise Wellness Strongman Contest - Saxonburg Strongman Contest - TPS Massachusetts State Strongman Championships - Maryland’s Strongest Man - Global Grip Challenge 2005

2006 - Stronger Than All II - Wise Wellness 2006

- Global Grip Challenge 2006

- Backyard Bastard Bash II 2007 - TPS Grip Assault 2007

- Michigan Grip Championship 2007 - Global Grip Challenge 2007 - Backyard Bastard Bash III - Gripmas Carol 2007

2008 - TPS Grip Assault 2008 - Michigan Grip Championship 2008 - Global Grip Challenge 2008 - Gripmas Carol 2008

Jedd regularly competes in Grip contests throughout the United States and is active behind the scenes of the annual Hand Strength Season, assisting in

setting up the qualification system, qualifying contests, and the National Hand Strength Championship, the Global Grip Challenge.

Jedd’s training focuses includes a variety of disciplines, including strongman, grip strength, speed bag striking, kettle-bells, powerlifting, and more.


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Documents

14 Things you NEED for your First Strongman Contest