The Wait - The Final Week Before a Strongman Competition

One of the hardest parts of the week before a strongman competition is the wait. All the training has been put in to arrive you at this point and now you must wait, battle your demons, and visualize for the big day.

At the end of the week, I am competing in my third Eastern Canada's Natural Strongest Man. This is a competition that is important to me and dictates whether I get another opportunity to go to the Canadian championship again this year or not.

As the tension builds to a rolling boil and all you want to do is jump out of your skin and go smash some heavyweights, you must hold the line just like a force of disciplined infantrymen. 

When you get to this point and all of the adrenaline of just thinking about the competition is coursing through your veins, it is easier said than done but still essential.

Get your tension out with light movements and cardio. Go for a light hike or outdoor walk.

This time is critical for dissipating fatigue and allowing your CNS to recover from the heavy competition prep. training you just went through. 

In Seasons of Strongman I go into great detail about all the components put into perfecting the final week before the competition. Putting together the building blocks of a successful competition prep. week is something I have honed after seven years of competing. With the competition training all done for, it becomes critical to dial in your nutrition, extra recovery work, and mental training to ensure that you are ready for the competition. 

Consuming extra calories during the final week means your body will be working to eliminate any residual fatigue from the intense training program over the last 6-8 weeks and topping up your fuel stores for the big day.

By sleeping a bit more and using the time you're not training to do more recovery work, your body will be refreshed and ready to fire on all cylinders for game time.

Mindset training is a long-game but the critical last week is when you incorporate everything you've been working on to visualize and rehearse your success.

While individual differences exist, the bread and butter theme remains that in order to be primed to give everything you've got in the upcoming competition, you must now patiently wait and hold the line.