The ultimate goal of strongman is to become the perfect all around strength athlete. This means that you must have brute maximum strength, repetition strength, static strength, explosive strength, grip strength as well as functional mobility ~Josh Thigpen, The Cube Method for Strongman.
So we all know you need to be strong in this sport right? It really is fascinating to talk to the top strongmen and women about how they program themselves and other athletes into strongman/women contests. I have had two of the worlds strongest athletes write me strongwomen training programs, one man and one women and their principles were TOTALLY different. Josh Thigpen sums up programming for this sport perfectly in his book, The Cube Method for Strongman where he states that every top strongman has a different approach to training. Strongmen are essentially walking experiments. The sport is so new that there is no definitive authority on the proper way to train.
I categorically agree with Thigpen where he notes however, in order to solve the strongman problem you must have a program that accounts for all aspects of strength and conditioning including;
Maximum Strength including grip strength
Repetition Strength (or strength endurance)
Functional Strength – specific to the events
Explosive Strength (or dynamic strength)
Technical proficiency on events – with the understanding that events may change last minute so flexibility is critical
Speed (multidirectional and linear)
Agility
General conditioning
The neglected elements, as I see it in general novice programming are technique and specificity, speed, power and agility and pre-habilitation and caring for your body.
Technique and specificity
The number of times I hear people say “oh its strongman, technique really does not matter…” uummmm really? You can not tell me that 
finding the most efficient way to move a weight from position a. to position b. will not involve precise technique…quite simply technique and efficiency is critical when working at sub-max/maximal effort. The best thing I ever did was work with Australian champion olympic lifter Damon Kelly on my clean and press technique. This literally allowed me to go from not being able to axel clean and press 130lbs in 2010 to moving 150lbs for 4 reps at the Arnold in 2013 (and I have a lot more in store for the nationals) Although some suggest that olympic lifting does not transfer to strongman events, I have found this to be untrue. I have found that learning basic technique has enhanced my over head work significantly.
Finding the right technique for your structure will not necessarily come from reading a manual or article on-line. You need to try out different styles – find out what technique is most efficient for YOUR body. The keg press for example has many techniques that will be effective depending on your strength and structure. Do not leave technique to chance; video your lifts, analyse your form and get expert advice.
Specificity is about replicating the actual implement or event as closely as possible to that which will be in the contest. If the event is an axel clean and press for reps, do not for a minute think that training with an olympic bar will automatically transfer over to the axel or that you can replicate a stone load with anything but an atlas stone. Certainly there are gym exercises that might assist with the strength required for these events but if you want to be truly competitive, make sure you are fully informed about the specifications of the implements and replicate. Trust me it is the worst feeling in the world to turn up to a contest and be blind sided by the weight/size/shape of an implement – there is no reason for this to occur. Ask questions of the promoters and seek the implements to train with! Also ensure that you weigh ALL of your implements -don’t assume -don’t let the boys say “oh that feels like….lbs”. If its heavier GREAT if its lighter you’ll be metaphorically screwed in contest.
Also be prepared for all weather possibilities. I have been know to train events in the rain, simply because you can not control the weather at contest, so why not tough through them in training?
Power, Speed and agility
Power can be described as the amount of work a muscle can produce per unit of time~ In many sports (track and field, jumping and strongman events) athletes must be able to use strength as quickly and forcefully as possible. Cronin and Hansen (Strength and Power Predictors of Sports Speed, 2005) state that for many sporting activities, initial speed rather than maximal speed would be considered of greater importance to successful performance. Rahimi and Bahpur suggest that success in many sports depends heavily upon the athletes explosive leg power and muscle strength. An increase in (leg) power gives the athlete the possibility of improved performance in sports in 
which the improvement of the strength-speed relationship is sought (Rahimi. R, Behpur. N (2005), The Effects of Plyometric, Weight and Plyometric-weight training on anaerobic power and muscular strength). Essentially they report that several studies have shown that plyometric training improves power output and increased explosiveness by training the muscles to do more work in a shorter amount of time.
Rahimi and Bahpur (2005) conducted a study to determine the effects of three different training methods (plyometric training alone, weight training alone and a mixed weight/Plyo program, including a control group who did not train) on certain variables of vertical leap performance (used to assess muscular strength and anaerobic power in athletes); leg power, jump height and leg strength. Essentially this study showed that although short term plyometric training is capable of improving the vertical jump, muscle strength and power but it was the combined weight/plyo program that was more beneficial ~ their results showed that the combined program of lifting and plyos can significantly increase the vertical leap. Rahimi and Bahpur’s study also illustrated that a program combining weight training and plometrics significantly increases hip and thigh power production, as measured by the vertical jump and the 45meter (50-yard) dash.
Agility is the ability to change direction quickly and efficiently and the ability to accelerate and decelerate quickly. This is about efficiently moving from point a. to point b. and involves reaction times, acceleration, footwork, changing direction and deceleration/stopping. Thingpen suggests that the first step in agility training is developing adequate strength to control your own body. Forces on the body during running can reach up to 4.6 times the athlete’s bodyweight; therefore it is fair to suggest that joints, ligaments and muscles must be strengthened to the point of being able to handle this potential pressure to avoid injury.
For strongmen/women events the speed over the first steps (first-step quickness) and the ability to rapidly increase velocity (acceleration) could be considered of great importance to successful performance, as opposed to just moving with consistent speed. The acceleration phase in moving a yoke for 50 feet is much shorter for as compared with top track sprinters. Therefore, achieving maximum speed earlier or possessing greater acceleration has obvious advantages in our sport.
There seems to be an underestimation of the importance of power, speed and agility training in programming generally in strongman although I think now, with the likes of Thigpen and Jill Mills giving their knowledge back to the sport in terms of frameworks for programming – the sport is likely to progress. My view has always been that you might now pull the biggest deadlift or squat the biggest weight in the contest line-up but speed/power and agility might just win you a title over that massive deadlifter.
Pre-habilitation
As opposed to rehabilitation which occurs AFTER an injury, pre-habilitation is critical for the PREVENTION of injury. I swear by sauna, PVC rolling, massage and osteopathic work not just when I am injured however on a regular basis.
The documented health benefits of sauna include improved blood flow to organs and other tissue, which supposedly helps to speed healing, lower blood pressure, relieve pain, improved overall circulation and even assist in weight loss. Personally, I have not noticed any significant difference in recovery or pain levels from using the sauna however the reason I utilise the gyms sauna is simple – I find it relaxing! I also do the majority of my static stretching in the Sauna because I do feel that the heat assists in flexibility.
I swear by PVC rolling to keep muscles and my Iliotibial Band (ITB – runs down the side of your leg) loose between massages. Josh Thigpen in The Cube Method for Strongman, quotes Michael Clark of the National Academy of Sports Medicine, in terms of the benefits of rolling; “By applying a force to an adhesion or “knot,” the elastic muscle fibers are altered from a bundled position into a straighter alignment with the direction of the muscle or fascia. The gentle pressure will stimulate the Golgi tendon organ and create autogenic inhibition, decreasing muscle spindle excitation and releasing the hypertonicity of the underlying musculature.” Essentially this is suggesting that rolling over a knot in a muscle will assist in stretching the muscle back out – kind of like a massage, but cheaper.
Massage and osteopath have been critical for injury prevention and fixing body tweaks such as calf strains, back tweaks etc. Tweaks and soreness is normal in such a brutal sport however if you do not manage these effectively, you WILL get injured. My message is for you to find what works for you; therapies to manage injury prevention are very personal some people swear by physiotherapists while others swear by chiropractors – try them all and make an informed decision.
As an end note, I want to mention a couple of pitfalls, to be mindful of, probably useful for both novice and more advanced athletes;
Shooting too high too soon - Trying to do a 550lbs yoke in a contest when you have only done a 300lbs in training is plain and simply asking for injury. I have seen in so many times – people attempting lifts or runs with eights that they have not trained up to.
Shooting too low and hampering progression - This really depends on how far you want to progress in the sport; if you are entirely happy competing at a local level, you probably will not need to look far for a contest. However if you really want to keep evolving as an athlete you will probably need to look outside of your local area for a suitable contest. Do not be scared to travel to challenge yourself – if you want it enough, you will find a way to make it happen.
Now, get out there and train smart!
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