Strongman is a competitive strength sport which tests athletes' physical strength and endurance through a variety of heavy lifts and events. Strongman competitions are known for their high intense and gruelling nature, pushing athletes to their physical and mental limits. The winners are selected based on a relative scoring system, where participants gather points for each individual event. An athlete who engages in the sport of strongman is also called a 'strongman'. They are often regarded as some of the strongest men of the world.
35-660: The Arnold Strongman Classic is an annual competition featuring strength athletes from all over the world, determining who is the Strongest Man in the World. Created by Arnold Schwarzenegger , Jim Lorimer and Terry Todd , it is an offshoot of the Arnold Sports Festival which takes place annually in Columbus, Ohio , USA . Widely regarded as the heaviest and the most difficult strongman competition in
70-621: A close battle with Poundstone and Ortmayer. The number of events was reduced to 5. Just days before the 2011 contest, Poundstone was forced to withdraw due to injury and Brian Shaw became the fourth man to win the title. He broke the Manhood stones world record, shared the Hummer tire deadlift win with Savickas and won the timber carry. Mike Jenkins of USA won dumbbell press and secured second place. Savickas broke another Axle world record and secured third. Mike Jenkins held off Poundstone to become
105-480: A day. Though competitive strongman events are ever-changing, there are a number of staples that frequently appear on the international stage, including: The strongmen are listed according to the chronological order of their birth. 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
140-487: 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
175-631: A win in briefed deadlift and Trey Mitchell won the Austrian Oak. Hooper won his second title with wins in timber carry, Axle and a world record replica Dinnie Stones carry. Björnsson who returned after a three-year hiatus and a recovering injury won the Elephant bar deadlift. Kieliszkowski won the Stones of Strength to secure second place while Stoltman emerged third. The events also include Rogue record breakers which were conducted in parallel to
210-473: A world record in bale tote. He also won the timber carry and as a part of Rogue record breakers, broke Max Manhood Stone world record. The overall runner up Bjornsson won the Austrian Oak and broke the world record in the Sandbag over bar and as a part of Rogue record breakers, broke Weight over bar world record. Pritchett broke the Elephant bar deadlift world record and secured overall third place. 2018 marked
245-624: Is a man who performs remarkable feats possessing enormous amounts of strength. In the 19th century, the term 'strongman' was referred to an exhibitor of strength during circus performances. 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. In
280-626: The Arnold Strongman Classic 3 times, his best finish was 3rd in 2007. In 2009 he became the overall champion of the Strongman Champions League . He has been described by Svend Karlsen as having the strongest grip in the world. Having competed in 40 International strongman competitions and winning 6 of them, Andrus is among the 50 most decorated strongmen of all time . Murumets lives near Tallinn in Üksnurme , Saku Parish . Since May 2011 Murumets
315-801: The Arnold Strongman Classic. Dates: 22, 23 February 2002 Columbus, Ohio: Dates: 28 February, 1 March 2003 Columbus, Ohio: Dates: 5, 6 March 2004 Columbus, Ohio: Dates: 4, 5 March 2005 Columbus, Ohio: Dates: 3, 4 March 2006 Columbus, Ohio: Dates: 2–4 March 2007 Columbus, Ohio: Dates: 29 February, 1 March 2008 Columbus, Ohio: Dates: 6, 7 March 2009 Columbus, Ohio: Dates: 5, 6 March 2010 Columbus, Ohio (Greater Columbus Convention Center, Arnold EXPO Stage) Dates: 4, 5 March 2011 Columbus, Ohio (Greater Columbus Convention Center, Arnold EXPO Stage) Dates: 2, 3 March 2012 Strength athletes Many sources state that strongman
350-544: The Hummer tire deadlift world record before Magnússon was given an extra attempt outside the competition to take the world record outright. Koklyaev's consistency awarded him the third place. In 2009, Savickas took a break and Derek Poundstone became the third man to win the title. He also broke the dumbbell press world record. Koklyaev won the Hummer tire deadlift and took the overall second place. Travis Ortmayer of USA won Manhood stone and took overall third. Ervin Katona won
385-462: The Hummer tire deadlift, and shared the dumbbell press win with Brian Siders and Hugo Girard . Van Hatfield won the hammer lift while Philippi won the timber carry. In 2006, the competition took its default name 'Arnold Strongman Classic' and it was won by Savickas for the fourth time over Virastyuk and Mikhail Koklyaev of Russia. Savickas raised the Apollon's wheels world record to 8 reps, won
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#1732783537457420-413: The actual strongest strongman based on straightforward tests of brute strength. The inaugural head judge was David P. Webster . Inaugural competition, which was called 'Arnold Strongman Challenge' was won by Mark Henry of USA over Svend Karlsen of Norway and Phil Pfister of USA. Henry won the Apollon's wheels, Andy Bolton won the deadlift, Raimonds Bergmanis won the Hummer push while Pfister won
455-566: The beginning of Iceland's Hafþór Júlíus Björnsson 's winning reign, after becoming the seventh man to win the title. He broke the Elephant bar deadlift world record, and won both the Axle press and Sandbag over bar. As a part of Rogue record breakers, he also broke the Weight over bar world record. Shaw won second place with a consistent performance across the board. Kieliszkowski broke Odd Haugen's Tombstone world record and Mikhail Shivlyakov secured
490-484: 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,
525-745: The crowd during intermission and perform strength feats like card tearing, nail bending, etc. to demonstrate strength as well as symmetry and size. Andrus Murumets Andrus Murumets (born 20 July 1978 ) is an Estonian strongman and entrant to the World's Strongest Man contest. He reached 5th in the World Rankings according to the IFSA rankings in 2008. Andrus competed in the IFSA World Championships in 2005 finishing 4th, 5th in 2006 and 5th in 2007. Andrus has competed in
560-549: The dumbbell press world record. JF Caron established a new world record in the Double-T Squat while Luke Stoltman and Bobby Thompson shared the third place. Canada's Mitchell Hooper became the ninth man to win the title, and the first man to win without winning a single event. Runner up Kieliszkowski won wheel of pain, timber carry and established a new world record in Steinstossen . Thompson emerged third with
595-424: The dumbbell press. Krzysztof Radzikowski won the Austrian Oak. Overall runner up Shaw broke another Manhood stones world record and shared the Hummer tire deadlift world record with Mark Felix . Another consistent performance earned Koklyaev the overall third. The 5 event format was brought back and Savickas won his seventh title. He won the Austrian Oak and established world records in the Hummer tire deadlift and
630-401: The fifth man to win the title. He broke dumbbell press world record and won both timber carry and the newly introduced Austrian Oak. Poundstone's consistency won him second place and Savickas secured third place after winning the Hummer tire deadlift and Axle (cleans only). The number of events were reduced to 4, and Lithuania's Vytautas Lalas became the sixth man to win the title. He also won
665-469: The following 50 strongmen have reached either 4th or 5th places of World's Strongest Man and/or World Muscle Power Classic and/or Arnold Strongman Classic : Active Retired - As of 24 November 2024 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
700-503: 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. Although you can do general strength training, at
735-413: The hammer lift while Mark Philippi won the Hummer tire deadlift. For the second year, the competition was called 'Arnold's Strongest Man' and Savickas secured his third title over Vasyl Virastyuk of Ukraine and Glenn Ross of Northern Ireland. 6 events were tested for the first time where Savickas won the Apollon's wheels and shared the medicine ball toss world record with Magnus Samuelsson . Ross won
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#1732783537457770-931: 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 . More than 30 countries also hold national-level strongman competitions. Training for strongman involves building overall strength in
805-424: The newly introduced bale tote. Shaw came second with a consistent performance across the board and Mike Burke emerged third. Jerry Pritchett won the timber carry and there was a four-way tie for the win of the newly introduced Cyr dumbbell press between Savickas, Shaw, Burke and Hafþór Júlíus Björnsson . Shaw won his second title winning the Hummer tire deadlift and a world record in the bale tote. He also shared
840-476: The overall third place. Björnsson won his second consecutive title and in doing so broke his own Elephant bar deadlift world record, world record replica Húsafell Stone carry and as a part of Rogue record breakers, broke Weight over bar world record as well. He also shared the win in Austrian Oak with Kieliszkowski, Shivlyakov and Martins Licis . Licis broke the world record in the Conan's wheel of pain and secured
875-535: The past) is one of the many offshoots of the Arnold festival. The Arnold Sports Festival, founded in 1989 as the Arnold Classic and named after Arnold Schwarzenegger , was originally a bodybuilding contest only. However, the event expanded to include other sports and events, one of which was Strongman, introduced in 2002. It was specifically designed by Terry Todd at the request of Schwarzenegger to select
910-649: The second place while Kieliszkowski broke the Odd Haugen's Tombstone world record and secured the third place. Björnsson won his third consecutive title becoming only the second man since Savickas to do so. He won the Elephant bar deadlift and the Sandbag over bar and held off Kieliszkowski who won trial by Stone, wheel of pain and established world records in Max Cyr Dumbbell and timber carry to second place. With another consistent performance, Licis secured
945-410: The super yoke, and shared the dumbbell win with Koklyaev and Pfister. Siders won the Hummer tire deadlift while Benedikt Magnússon won the timber carry. Savickas won his fifth title over Virastyuk and Andrus Murumets of Estonia. He equaled his Apollon's wheels world record from last year and also won the Hummer tire deadlift and super yoke. The Manhood Stone was introduced for the first time and it
980-461: The third place. As a part of Rogue record breakers, Tom Stoltman broke Max Manhood Stone world record. The competition was not held for the first and only time in its history due to the COVID-19 pandemic . America's Martins Licis became the eighth man to win the title. He won the Odd Haugen's Tombstone and stayed consistent across the board. Ukraine's Oleksii Novikov won second place and broke
1015-473: The timber carry, Vidas Blekaitis won the super yoke and Siders equaled Savickas' Apollon's wheels world record. Poundstone, having broken another dumbbell press world record and won the timber carry to win his second consecutive title over returned Savickas and Ortmayer. Savickas won the Hummer tire deadlift and established a new world record in the Axle. Brian Shaw of USA won the Manhood Stone after
1050-504: The timber carry. Competitors were also given the opportunity to attempt the Thomas Inch dumbbell outside of the competition and Henry took the win by lifting it up to chest height. 2003 was the beginning of Lithuania's Žydrūnas Savickas 's dominant reign of the competition. Karlsen emerged second, while Bergmanis secured third. Savickas won Apollon's wheels and timber carry while Karlsen won medicine ball toss. The Hummer tire deadlift
1085-537: The timber carry. Runner up Shaw broke world records in the Cyr dumbbell and bale tote. Eddie Hall won the newly introduced Elephant bar deadlift while Lalas secured the overall third place. As a part of Rogue record breakers, Shaw, Björnsson and Burke set world records in Max Manhood Stone, Weight over bar, and double Thomas Inch dumbbells farmers walk, respectively. Brian Shaw won his third and final title with
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1120-487: The world record in the Cyr dumbbell for reps with Dimitar Savatinov . Runner up Savickas broke the Austrian Oak world record. Björnsson broke the timber carry world record and as a part of Rogue record breakers, broke the Weight over bar world record. Mateusz Kieliszkowski of Poland secured the overall third place. Žydrūnas Savickas won his eighth and final title after equaling his own Austrian Oak world record. He also won
1155-812: The world the Arnold Strongman Classic has been won only by 9 men in history. Among them, the Lithuanian Žydrūnas Savickas has won it 8 times, while the American Brian Shaw and the Icelander Hafþór Júlíus Björnsson have won it 3 times each. Three of the past champions: American Mark Henry , Hafþór Júlíus Björnsson and Brian Shaw have been inducted into the International Sports Hall of Fame . The competition (which has been also referred to as 'Arnold's Strength Summit' and 'Arnold's Strongest Man' in
1190-452: Was introduced and was won by Brad Gillingham . The competition was called 'Arnold's Strength Summit'. Savickas won his second title over Karlsen and Bergmanis. The competition was called 'Arnold's Strongest Man' and 5 events were tested. It was also the first year a 10 man lineup was selected over the initial 8 man lineup from the previous two years. Savickas secured the wins in Apollon's wheels, medicine ball toss and timber carry. Karlsen won
1225-427: Was won by Steve MacDonald. Virastyuk won the dumbbell press and Murumets broke the timber carry world record. Savickas won his sixth consecutive title while winning Manhood Stone and sharing the dumbbell press win with American Derek Poundstone who won the overall second place. Siders won Apollon's wheels and super yoke while Murumets won the timber carry. Magnússon and Oleksandr Pekanov both broke and briefly shared
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