While I entered the sport of strongman later in life than most, it has been an undeniable change in my entire life. Everything from the way I train to the foods I eat and the people I spend my time around have been affected by the sport. Instead of making excuses for why I am not doing something I look for what needs to happen to make it happen. That is just what happened with my first strongman meet.
When I signed up for my first competition, I am pretty sure my wife thought I was crazy. It was a smaller event where I would be competing in the Novice Division. Strongman events are generally broken into two divisions which brings me to my first point. Know where you stand.
At most local level meets you will see Novice and Open Divisions as standard. If there is enough interest the event directors will add Teen and Masters divisions as well. If you are considering an event already but do not see a division listed that you are interested in competing in never hesitate to send a quick message to the meet directors to see what they say. I have been to competitions where people have ended up in groupings by themselves making it a matter of them against the weights!
Usually the Novice divisions will use lighter weights in the same events as equivalent in the open division. This can create a lower barrier to entry for a lot of athletes who may want to try the sport but maybe do not have years of training on log pressing or atlas stones. That is not to say that the Novice division is easier, you still need to be able to put in the work and myself and other athletes in the novice division have still zeroed on events. Weight is still weight.
Speaking of weight. Know how much you weigh and plan accordingly. The open division is divided into lightweight, middleweight, heavyweight, and superheavyweight. Novice can be tricky. Some competitions will throw all the Novice division athletes into one group and split a tie score based on weight while others will go by a lightweight and heavyweight class. Trying to cut weight before an event will only make you hungry and tired the day of the event. Try to leave some room between what your ‘walking around weight’ is and what your competition weight will be. Be prepared for your weigh in so you do not get a shock and end up bumped into a different class.
If you have come this far you are hopefully getting an understanding on how things are broken down. Now you can start to look for where you fit into the competition. Every competition will publish at least a partial list of events for the day with at least some example of potential weight for each individual division and weight class. Use these numbers to see where you stand between the open and novice divisions. If you are looking at the novice division weights and they look easy, you may want to consider competing in the open division unless the weights seem unreasonably harder for your current skill level.
Understand also that anyone can start in the Novice division, but in most leagues when you make the jump to the open division you are not allowed to jump back down. Keep in mind that at most competitions athletes are competing for chances to go to nationals and sometimes even for cash prizes, but everyone is there because win or lose we love the sport and being a part of it. If this is your first competition you are there to gain the experience of competing. There is nothing wrong with walking into your first competition with the goal of taking a trophy so long as you don’t forget that experience is what you get when you don’t get what you want.
By now you should have a decent understanding of who you will be competing with and probably even have some competitions in mind. Now it really comes down to which one to choose. My personal preference for choosing a local event is on location and what events will be held that day. Location is important because as someone with a day job as much as I would love to, flying to Florida for a local competition is not really in the cards at this point. However for my family we can sometimes treat it as a nice weekend away and use it as an excuse to get a hotel room to ensure we have a staging area and find something interesting nearby the competition to do the next day for the entire family. After all, the hours of training can be a stressor on everyone in the house and it is a nice way to show my appreciation for my wife and children who are my biggest fans.
As I mentioned I also like to chose competitions based on what events are being held. I like to make sure there is at least one event that is outside of my “comfort zone.” I had a terrible fear of Atlas stones and all the potential injuries that could occur with them until I had one in my arms bringing it over the bar. The second part is to make sure that the competition has events that I can train for. The last thing you want is to have never laid hands on strongman implements prior to the day of. Having some knowledge of how the implement will react to you will keep you safe from injuries while also giving you the confidence you need to perform.
Another consideration to the specific events at the competition is the matter of the time to train for the event. Will you need a solid month of working on your deadlift or just a couple of times to get a feel for how the axle moves? This is more specific to the individual athlete. I would never shy away from an event with a log because log pressing is something that I feel came to me somewhat naturally, meaning it would not take me as long to get up to speed with the log as compared to a Conan’s wheel event.
Most competitions can be found through the various strongman league’s websites and more and more are also creating the events as Facebook events as well. Joining an event page will give you the opportunity to see rosters as athletes sign up, ask questions to the athletes and directors, and maybe even get information you might not have thought to ask about yourself. It can also be a good place to connect with local athletes for recommendations about restaurants for after the event and places to stay. Just remember that you are posting to a somewhat public page and may not want all the athletes to know if you are asking about something that would give you an advantage.
At the end of the day choosing your first strongman event is something of a leap of faith. There is a lot you will learn from showing up with a jar of tacky, peanut butter honey sandwiches, and a positive attitude. You will learn no matter how you place, even coming in last place you still are stronger than everyone who was not willing to get off the couch and compete!
CULT-OF-IRON 