Strongman - Tests of Strength
Strongman, also referred to as strength athletics, is a sport in which competitors are tested for their pure strength, using a variety of different tasks. Though there has been competitions conducted for testing strength for several decades, attempts to officially codify the sport began in the 20th century which culminated with the development of the World's Strongest Man competition in 1977.
Most strongman competitions consist of six to eight events. Contestants are awarded points for each event based on their finish position. The contestant with the most number of points at the end of all the events is the winner.
strongman weight pullThough the tasks that are required to be performed in a competition keeps changing, some of the tasks that are commonly used are:
- Farmer's Walk — A walk, carrying heavy weights on each hand.
- Hercules Hold — Hold two heavy pillars that are falling outwards.
- Vehicle Pull — Pulling a stationary vehicle, like trucks, trains or airplanes.
- Atlas Stones — Lift and place five stones of increasing weight on a podium.
- Refrigerator Carry — Carry an iron bar on shoulders which has two refrigerators attached, one on each side.
strongmen at the Highland GamesThough the World's Strongest Man remains to be the most popular strongman competition, there are other major competitions like Arnold Strongman Classic and Strongman Champions League.
Similar Sports
- Stone Lift or Carry — involves moving stones as a test of strength.
- Power Lifting — tests of strength on three lifts: dead lift, bench press and squat.
- Olympic Weightlifting — competitors attempt to lift weights mounted on barbells to above their heads.
- Weight Throw — a family of heavy weight throwing events, in which the objective is to either throw the weight as far as possible or as high as possible.
- Mas Wrestling — participants sit and face each other with their feet braced against a board and each with both hands on a stick. The aim is to pull the other player over to your side.
- Hammer throw — an Olympic track and field event in which a heavy weight at the end of a wire is thrown for distance.
- Caber Toss — a traditional Scottish sport in which the competition revolves around tossing forward a large tapered pole called a caber.
- Wood Chopping — participants attempt to cut or saw a log or other types of wood in the quickest time.
- Lumberjack — competitions involving many different events, including log rolling, chopping, timed hot (power) saw and bucksaw cutting, and pole climbing.
- Crossfit — a strength and conditioning program involving short but high-intensity workouts comprised of functional exercises.
Related Pages
- About the Scottish Highland Games
- List of weight lifting sports
- Who is the Strongest Man in the World? Comparing performances of strength athletes.
- Training for Strength and Fitness
- Complete list of sports
- The Encyclopedia of Sports — a list of every sport from around the world.
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