One day, in the early 1900, German superstrongman Herman Goerner stated that there is three tests of strength.
- How much you can lift off the ground
- How much you can put over your head
- How much weight you can walk with
Clean and Jerk, Deadlift, and the Farmer’s Walk are the 3 ultimate tests of strength. No matter what kind of gear, suits, wraps, belts, suits ever invented. You cannot cheat the Holy Trinity of Strength (Clean and Jerk, Deadlift, Farmer’s Walk) as you can cheat bench and squat. With bench press and squat you can get away with supportive gear, sloppy form and partial movement. But not with Clean and Jerk, Deadlift, and Farmer’s Walk. With these three you only one way to go.
How much you can put over your head.
How much you can lift off the ground.
How much weight you can walk with.
Ask Derek Poundstone.
How much you can support.
Ask Gregg Ernst.
The only purpose of Strongman Competitions should be to test full body strength and absolute brute strength. Thus eliminating all pointless strength endurance events.
The question is “Who is The Strongest Man in the World?”
Jeff M. Everson defined Strength as a single maximum all-out body effort, the ability to generate maximum muscle tension for one movement or repetition involving as many muscles as possible.
Et voilà! That’s mean maximum efforts rather than prolonged events. Period.
Some examples of the many flaws of the World’s Strongest Man contest.
The 6’5″, 400-pound powerlifter O.D. Wilson was screwed out of his World’s Strongest Man title in 1990 to coming last place in a silly 200-meter timed race carrying a 220-pound load of bricks on their back. The more athletic Jon Pall Sigmarsson was awarded the title. Thanks to this pointless endurance race.
World class powerlifter Gerritt Badenhorst (holder of the 1990 deadlift World Record 402.5 kg/887.4 lbs) losing the car holding for time to Highland Games participant Forbes Cowan who barely managed to lift the car off the ground.
What about the hanging bar hold? A pointless grip test that a lighter man will usually win. Any 130 lbs gymnast will outlast any 250-300 pounds strongman on this one. Is it prove that the gymnast is the strongest? Not at all! It doesn’t even prove that the skinny gymnast has a stronger grip.
After winning the WSM three-time in a row (1980-1982), Bill Kazmaier was blackballed from the World’s Strongest Man circuit until 1988 for being too dominant!!??!!
Here below are the point of view of different experts on what the REAL World’s Strongest Man Competition should be to earn its name.
How many events?
Collin Moshman suggested 5 events.
- Tug-of-War tournament
- Steel Bending
- Lifting stones overhead for max weight
- Sandbag lift and carry for distance (on the order of 400 pounds)
- Unusual object load (placing objects of increasing difficulty on platforms, e.g., an anchor, an ultra heavy keg, a lead-filled fire hydrant)
Terry Todd (Arnold Strongman Classic) suggested 4 or 5 carefully chosen events.
- Apollon’s Wheels – 366 pounds on a 1.93″ thick bar (Clean and Jerk)
- Deadlift with straps. Was supposed to be a truck deadlift with a straight bar sets higher than a traditional deadlift.
- 815-825 pounds Timber Walk up a wheelchair ramp (Farmer’s Walk) much heavier and a 30 seconds time limit instead of 90 seconds. However, the organisator had some reserve about the weight cause he thought “that an even heavier weight would have been a truer test of brute strength.” He wished that “their grip strength and their body strength would be tested to approximately the same degree.”
- Flat-tires Hummer Push. Hummer was the major sponsor of the event.
2 events per day on 2 days.
- Completeness. Overall, full-body test of strength.
- Heaviness.
- Simplicity
- Standing overhead Press
- Squat with bikini-clad women on a platform
- Hummer Tire Deadlift
- Truck Deadlift Hold
- Manhood Stones (484-525 pounds) over a 4-foot barrier
- 2 events on Day 1
- 2 events on Day 2
- 1 event on Day 3.
In a perfect world, the top Olympic weightlifters, powerlifters, and strongman competitors would participate.
Terry Todd (Arnold Strongman Classic) aimed for:
A limit of 8 competitors
- 2 leading Weightlifters
- 2 leading Powerlifters
- 2 leading Strongman competitors
- Filling the contest with people who were outstanding in two or more of three of the main disciplines of strength.
When and Where?
Dane Curley suggested:
- A live broadcast. A no-brainer for any legitimate sport presentation.
- Dates and locations allowing for colder temperature. Since Strongmen tend to be more confortable, bulkier and at their best during winter time.
How much Money?
- Elite strongmen should be earning enough money so that they do not need other employment to make ends meet. In other words, those shitty $20,000 and $30,000 are fn’ ridiculous!??!*!
- Money and prestige would attract more athletes in the future. Instead of looking for the NFL, a youngster would train to become a pro strongman. But for this utopia to become a reality, the strongman sport will need a shitload of money (TV contracts, mainstream sponsorships, merchandises, etc). Which is unrealistic for the moment since Strongman is a niche sport with a limited fanbase. 🙁
Pushing the limits of human strength even further.
I think you get the point. Money, money, money…
And forget about the hypocritical witch-hunt, head in the ass drug testing.
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- 3 attempts allowed to lift the most weight he can a single time.
- Once the bar is loaded, a SuperStrongman™ has one minute to start the lift; if he fails to do this the lift is forfeited.
- SuperStrongmen™ have a minimum of two minutes between each attempts (only in the situation where they follow themselves).
- Weight must increase after each successful attempt.
- After a failed attempt, the weight on the bar will stay the same or go up.
- A failed rep counts as an attempt.
- Only successful lifts are counted.
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- The weight can only go up. The weight on the bar will start at the lightest attempt and then either stay the same or go up if succeeded.
- A scoreboard will indicate the number of attempts and the succeeded weight of each SuperStrongmen™ so the audience can follow the action closely.
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The lift is performed with a standard powerlifting bar and calibrated/certifiated plates.
- 3 attempts allowed to lift the most weight he can a single time.
- Once the bar is loaded, a SuperStrongman™ has one minute to start the lift; if he fails to do this the lift is forfeited.
- SuperStrongmen™ have a minimum of two minutes between each attempts (only in the situation where they follow themselves).
- Weight must increase after each successful attempt.
- After a failed attempt, the weight on the bar will stay the same or go up.
- A failed rep counts as an attempt.
- Only successful lifts are counted.
- The weight can only go up. The weight on the bar will start at the lightest attempt and then either stay the same or go up if succeeded.
- A scoreboard will indicate the number of attempts and the succeeded weight of each SuperStrongmen™ so the audience can follow the action closely.
SMAC Total
The sum of the best of each lift (1 rep max Clean & Press and 1 rep max Deadlift) will be used as a tangible gage of pure strength and a tiebreaker in case of a tie on the scoreboard at the end of the Competition.
Both lift are contested on the First Day with the result being based on the heaviest weight successfully lifted in each of the two lifts. The SuperStrongman™ who totalled the most weight (i.e. has the highest sum of each of his lifts) is the overall winner of the first two Tests Of Strength™ and the First Day of the SMAC™.
Heavy Farmer’s Walk.
(450 pounds per hand) on 50 meters (164 feet) flat course without turn within a 30-second time limit.
Yes, it is so heavy that not everybody will be able to lift it. It was done on purpose.
Natural Stones Lifting.
One stone per elimination round for one single drop over the barrier, no repetitions.
The first elimination round is done with the lighest stone and the third, and last, elimation round is done with the heaviest stone.Furthermore, tacky will be more of an hindrance than a help when lifting natural stones. These stones were not designed to be lift by men unlike the current Atlas and Husafell stones. These is no easy way out. Here is an example of a legendary natural stone that can be used.
Backlift Support.
Weight starting at 2000 lbs minimum.
Supporting the weight for time without having to lift in the first place.
A good thing, since the lifting can be extremely hard to balance.
Strength, as defined by M. Andrew Holowchak, is: A quantifiable capacity to overcome force through exertion or to resist force through endurance.
What a best way to resist force through endurance than supporting thousands of pounds on your back for as long as you can?
This Test Of Strength™ would be performed on the adjustable and plate-loading Rogue Backlift Platform.
In my view, those 5 Test Of Strength™ are the very best to determine who is the Strongest Man Alive™. So there is no need for modification and rotation from year to year. Except for possibly heavier weights for the following years.
Quebec, The Cradle of Strong Men
- Live broadcast. Live audience.
- In January, the coldest month of the year, inside the Stade Olympique in Montreal, Quebec, Canada, land of Louis Cyr, one of the strongest men who ever lived.
- Always indicating the weight used (lbs/kg) on screen as well as the name, country, height, weight, age and ranking of the SuperStrongman™ competing the Test Of Strength™.
- The stones and the Farmer’s Walk’s implements have their weights marked on in LBS.
- Entrance music for each SuperStrongman™ on their way in and out of every Tests Of Strength™. Just like they did at the USC.
- All plates used should be branded SMAC™ and Strongest Man Alive™ just like they do at the Crossfit Games.
- No drug testing. To see the upmost limit of human strength. What a joke anyway!
- No weight classes.
- No age category.
- Not even gender category. As long as you’re an human being and you can pull over the top world class heavy weights.
10 SuperStrongmen™
In order to crown the Strongest Man Alive™ you need to attract the strongest men in the world to your Competition to validate your claim.
Who should compete?
- A field of 10 SuperStrongmen™.
- Invitation and application.
- The strongest people in the world are invited to compete regardless of their affiliation.
- Selection based on pure strength and absolute power.
- SMAC Total (Clean and Press and Deadlift’s Total) is a measurable indicator of overall body strength. Thus making it an excellent selection’s tool.
- Strongman, Powerlifting and Olympic weightlifting are the three most fertile grounds to pick our 10 SuperStrongmen™. But we should check outside the box too.
The turning point…
- MONEY, Money, Money, prestige and fairness (to determine who is the REAL World’s Strongest Man instead of who is the strongest athlete) will attract the strongest humans in the world.
- $1 Million first prize, the Gold medal and the title of the “Strongest Man Alive” YEAR.
- $100,000 bonus to break a World Record. Like the Leonid Taranenko’s 585 lbs Clean and Jerk and the Benedikt Magnusson’s 1015 lbs Deadlift.
- Six-figure purses for the competitors. First, the sport will need a larger fanbase and greater media coverage to ever get that kind of money.
- At the very least, our Strongmen should be able to make a living from the sport without needing other employment to make ends meet.
- First class airfare (since they are so huge), transportation, lodging, training facilitees, food, travel visas should be provided and paid for by the promoter. And in regard to jet lag, Strongmen residing further across the globe should be offered longer stay before the Competition just to be able to perform at their best.
“You don’t get full-time results out of part-time athletes” —Charlie Francis, Canadian Olympic sprinter.
- Rethinking the Sport of Strongman – Collin Moshman (MILO: December 2003, Volume 11 – Number 3)
- The First Arnold Strength Summit by Terry Todd (Iron Game History, Vol 7, #2 & 3)
- Testing for the World’s Strongest Man: Ensuring that the Man Called “The Strongest Man in the World” Is the Strongest Man in the World by M. Andrew Holowchak (Iron Game History, Volume 11, Number 2, June 2010)
- 3 Ways to Improve the World’s Strongest Man Contest by Dane Curley (August 1, 2017)
- Strength Records Continue to Fall, But How Much Stronger Can Humans Get? by Oliver Lee Bateman (March 25, 2017)
- The Strongest Man In History! by Jeff M. Everson (October 4, 2009)
- Is Rich Froning the Fittest Man Alive? by Jerred Moon
- If the Ability to Arm Wrestle Is the Ultimate Test of Toughness, Why Doesn’t Anyone Care About Pro Arm Wrestling? by Oliver Lee Bateman (June 19, 2018)
