Seasons of Strongman

How do I get started in my first strongman or strongwoman competition? 

Where do I go to look for equipment and groups of athletes who are training for the sport? 

Now that I’ve gone to competitions a few times, I want to get better and advance to the next level and even start to win, but don’t know exactly what to do. 

These are the types of questions and comments I see every day from lifters who not only want to compete in strongman/strongwoman, they also want to win. 

My name is RJ Kayser and I’m two-time Eastern Canada Natural Strongest Man and currently ranked Fourth in Canada in natural strongman. I’ve been competing in the sport of strongman for over nine years.

In Seasons of Strongman I take you through my journey in the sport and show you the exact training methodologies that I used to win at big competitions as a natural strongman competitor.

We all see incredible feats of strength being performed from the footage of The Arnold Strongman Classic and World’s Strongest Man every year and now more than ever before the female athletes and lighter weight-classed competitors are also showing that they’ve got the chops to perform in big shows. 

But how did they go from being an amateur in the sport to where they’re at today? 

Putting together all of the factors that make up the “strongman/strongwoman lifestyle” help to develop champion athletes as they go from their first competition experience to winning at shows that actually matter.

It takes many years of dedicated effort and strategy to build up competency in all of the aspects that go into making a world-class athlete, especially when it comes to the sport of strongman and I’m going to show you the road to do just that. 

How do you go about finding your very first competition and what do you do to get connected to the athletes that are training in your area and can help you to improve? 

With the rapid growth in strongman in the last decade, including weight classes and strongwoman competitions, I’ve seen the barrier to entry in many areas increase as well. Many new athletes wanting to try to sport seem to be at a loss as the weights are becoming increasingly heavy before they’ve even had a chance to try it out.

These issues are addressed in Seasons of Strongman in order to help you get started when all the competitions in your area seem too heavy for you to even give a shot at. 

Before I ever got into training for strongman specifically I took an interest in watching the sport on TV. Back then I remember seeing Derek Poundstone competing at the World’s Strongest Man and it would be shown back-to-back all day long during the Christmas holidays. I would sit there fascinated by the size and strength of these athletes but the objects they were lifting were bizarre and I couldn’t understand how they could possibly train to get good at those lifts. What kind of gym were they going to in order to find access to those implements to train with? 

Of the many questions I had about the sport, this was one that I didn’t let stop me from trying to train for strongman as much as possible. My brother and I would work our way up to being able to grab the heaviest dumbbells in the gym and then challenge each other to see who could go the furthest. We would slap Fat Gripz on a heavy dumbbell and press them overhead in a movement that harkens back to the old-school circus strongmen and is aptly named the Circus Dumbbell clean and press. Anything we could do to mimic what we saw these massive athletes doing on TV we would try. I call this Globo Gym Strongman after the fictional brand name gym from the movie Dodgeball which has become ubiquitously tied to commercial gym culture. 

These types of gyms are where many of us get started with lifting and where our first inkling of competing in strongman or strongwoman originates. While they are less than ideal for becoming a more advanced strongman or strongwoman, they offer the most realistic starting point for so many athletes that I’ve worked a significant amount of Globo Gym Strongman training into the beginner sections of the book as well as including an entire bonus guide of all the ways you can mimic most strongman events in a commercial gym setting. 

Seasons of Strongman is the book and program guide that will help to take you from the beginning steps all the way up to winning  shows at the bigger stage.

This book is filled with the information you’ll need to keep you progressing and moving up the ranks in at least the first three to seven years of your strongman or strongwoman journey. Becoming a skilled strongman athlete is a long journey. This book will provide you with the core principles that you need to incorporate into your life and routine to keep you healthy and driven to continue to improve for many years to come. 

Why This Book And Training Program Is Different

Something that has always disappointed me about many of the training programs that I have bought over the 12 years I have been training is the amount of information that comes with the training program. Typically you will receive a digital product package of the “main” ebook sometimes along with the training manual separate or included all together in one file. When you open up the documents though you find that 70% of the 50 pages of information in the ebook is just the week-to-week training program. 

Where’s all the rationale and detail about why do the training and why it works? Most often these ebooks have huge margins and there are only a few sentences on each page, certainly, 25 or so pages like this are not enough information to provide an athlete interested in following the program the wherewithal to follow the program and fit it into their life correctly. 

Sure, some people buying digital training manuals just want to get the training program and I do know how much work goes into properly programming and periodizing training with the work I’ve done with athletes and clients over the years in addition to the two training programs included with this book, but most people purchasing books and training manuals want something worthwhile to read that takes more than half an hour to get through. 

This has created an industry where most people are scared to pay for the experienced guidance of someone who’s ahead of them on the training journey because they don’t feel they’ll get the value they’re paying for. 

This is how I feel personally and I know I’m not alone in feeling this way.

Check out this review of Seasons of Strongman from Zach, who shares this exact sentiment:

“I’m a big reader and love to read about training. When I’m reading a training program I want lots of detail about why different exercises are included in the program and what different options I can use if I want to switch it up. This book was awesome because it includes all of that and is like an actual book. I like how it tells the story of the progression of strongman from being brand new all the way to the top and it’s like reading an actual book about the journey as much as having the information to apply to your own training. Compared to other training programs I’ve bought that cost the same, Seasons of Strongman is definitely way more worth the money. I can see myself referring back to it and making use of the information for years to come."

Seasons of Strongman is a book worth reading, not a few pages of information thrown in with a training manual. This is a book first and foremost that also includes two awesome training programs:

• The first training program is designed to be applicable at virtually any type of gym. This type of training program will develop all the strengths you need to be strong enough if you’ve never done a strongman competition before or if you’ve tried a few competitions for fun and are ready to get better.

• The second training program and rational included with it is the exact thought process that I used to create the program that led me to win a national qualifier last year. Because every competition is different, this training program provides you with all the details you need to modify it to suit the needs of any upcoming competition that you are trying to win.

I wanted the training templates to be included as a complement to an actual book that explains the principles behind the training and other lifestyle choices and also shows you how to structure your own training so that if the template doesn’t match the weak points you discover you need to work on more, you’ll have the knowledge and the guidance on how to adjust and incorporate that into your own strongman or strongwoman training plan. 
My primary objective in writing Seasons of Strongman was to create a guidebook for you to follow along from season-to-season over the next several years as you advance up the ranks and I wanted it to have the density of information that is lacking from almost every other training book or manual I’ve ever purchased. That’s why the book itself is over 200 pages of useful information that you can apply to improving as an athlete, in fact, the printed version of the book is 289 full pages of information. There is also tons of additional content and training programs included on top of that. 

I’ve painstakingly gone through the process with every ebook and training program I’ve ever purchased of trying to convert it into a readable format that I can highlight and mark up with an eReader or in an ebook app. 

With a book like Seasons of Strongman I wanted to make it as readable as possible because usually training manuals are simply documents that have been converted into PDFs and you have to pinch-to-zoom to read every sentence or only read it on your computer, neither of which is what I would consider being an ideal reading experience and because there’s so much information that you’ll want to be able to easily refer back to as you progress through the stages of your own strongman/strongwoman journey, I wanted to make it as easy as possible for you to do so. 

I’ve not only included Seasons of Strongman in the typical PDF format, I’ve also designed it specifically to be in ePub format so that all the chapters are easily accessible and you can use your favourite ebook app or even add it your eReader to dig into and highlight as much as you like. So whether you prefer to print out and read everything on paper, or keep it on your digital devices in a highly readable format, it’s all there for you.

I’ve also done the same thing in providing you with the original spreadsheets of the training programs so that if you want to keep them on your phone to input your numbers into and track your progress you can do so, or you can print off the PDFs and avoid the distraction of using your phone at the gym. 

This book and the included programs were created with a specific set of athletes in mind.

It’s not intended to be for strongmen and strongwomen already at the top level of the sport. Over the years I’ve discovered that the best progress is made by turning to coaches and mentors who are accomplished and have put in many years of training while being proactive in learning as much as they could, but this usually doesn’t include world-class athletes unless you are already chasing right on their heels. 

World-class athletes are inspirational to follow but they are also genetically gifted and in strongman, that means that the framework for their size and strength came to them naturally. 

Seasons of Strongman was designed to help all types of lifters looking to get into strongman and strongwoman, not just the ones who were always picked first during high school sports. The book takes you through the seasons from the very beginner stages to transitioning to a higher level of competition to winning at the shows that matter.  

More Testimonials

I know you’re going to love this book and the programs that are included and I took the time to verify this with athletes who have applied the information and training protocols in the book, including Dan, who used the information to prepare and compete in his first-ever strongman show and Jeff who deadlifted over 500 lb. after coming back from a disc injury. 

From Dan:

“I loved reading the book. It actually flows like a book and not just chunks of information. I was able to apply the principles to competing in my first strongman competition which was very challenging but went great. I can’t wait to compete again.”

Here’s what Jeff had to say as well: 

“I’ve been looking for a training program that could help me get bigger and stronger again after being held back for the last couple of years with a bulging disc. I was just looking to get stronger in the gym, not necessarily compete in strongman again, but I followed the beginner program and have gotten incredibly strong with it. I’m now deadlifting over 5 plates a side.”

The book and training programs are meant to be used to get you prepared for competitions but the principles of strength training are universal and so it’s no surprise that athletes are seeing their overall size and strength skyrocket with the programs that have been developed for the book. 

Not sure whether you should take the chance of purchasing the book?

I took the writing of this book as seriously as if I were trying to write something that you would find on the bookshelf of your local Indigo or Barnes and Noble. I am completely confident that you will be blown away by the amount of information and practical advice that you will be able to apply to improving on your own journey in strongman/strongwoman. That’s why I’m offering a 12-week 100% Money Back Guarantee so that you have nothing to lose. This will give you enough time to read the book and apply the training program to see for yourself how great the information is. If you’re a fan of strongman and like gaining as much knowledge as you can to help you with your own training this book is going to completely satisfy what you’ve been looking for but have yet to find in a training manual. 

Who’s this book for:

• Beginner strongman and strongwoman athletes looking to get started in the sport.

• Athletes who’ve been bitten by the strongman bug and want to move from the starting phases to more important intermediate or advanced shows.

• Intermediate level athletes looking for their first big win or attempting to qualify for professional level shows.

• Anyone that wants to learn more about the nutrition, mindset, and recovery techniques that professional athletes use and how they can incorporate more for themselves.

• Athletes who want to compete in natural strongman competitions.

• Lifters who love to read lots and gather as much information as possible.

Just as important, who’s this book not for:

• Professional level athletes who are already winning at national level shows.

• While I’ve included enough information for anyone who’s interested in just dabbling in strongman as a hobby to incorporate the lifts into their training to get bigger and stronger, this product is more information than those lifters need and is not suitable if you have no desire of winning in competitions.

Take a look at the Table of Contents and see just what’s in store for you in the book as well as the appendices and bonus material that is included:

Table of Contents

Ch. 1 Introduction: What Is Strength? 
Ch. 2 Glossary of Terms. 
Ch. 3 The Call To Adventure - Your Very First Competition
Ch. 4 Transitioning From Other Sports
Ch. 5 Choosing Your Weight Class
Ch. 6 Expectations and Priorities of Strongman/ Strongwoman Training
Ch. 7 Year-One Strongman Training
Ch. 8 Building for Long-Term Success
Ch. 9 Focus On The Macros - Beginner Nutrition
Ch. 10 You’re Only At 40% - Beginner Mindset Training
Ch. 11 Beginner Recovery Considerations
Ch. 12 CANI Philosophy
Ch. 13 On a New Level - Training For The Win
Ch. 14 Answering The Call - Intermediate and Pre-Competition Training
Ch. 15 Advanced Nutrition and Supplementation
Ch. 16 Advanced Psychological Tactics
Ch. 17 Recovery Tools and Techniques of the Pros
Ch. 18 The Week Before an Important Competition
Ch. 19 Pre-Competition Nutrition
Ch. 20 Mindset Tools for the Final Week
Ch. 21 The Last Supper - The All-Important Day Before a Big Competition
Ch. 22 Competition Day Performance
Ch. 23 After The Battle - Recovering and The Cycle of Continuously Moving Forward
Ch. 24 Striving For Greatness

Appendix 1: Complete Weight Cutting Guide

Appendix 2: Brew Your Own Brew

Appendix 3: Useful Additional Resources and Links

Get your feet wet before diving in head-first.

While most of my readers have a burning desire to get as much information as they can get their hands on when it comes to training, nutrition, and all the aspects that constitute strongman, I've received enough requests from beginner and intermediate lifters that are interested in only a subset of the Seasons of Strongman information as to separate it into two volumes called Year 1 and Year 2.

New lifters might not be ready to dive into the nuances of competing to win and the intermediate athletes ready for the podium don't necessarily want to read the information for beginners on how to train and find competitions when getting started in the first few years.

Please note the differences in content you are getting in each of the separate volumes. 

Seasons - Year 1

• Seasons of Strongman Year 1 book (Chapters 1-13) in ePub and PDF formats.

• All appendices from Seasons of Strongman.

• Beginner Training Program and Guidelines

• Globo Gym Strongman Training Guide - How to Train Strongman in a Commercial Gym

Seasons - Year 2

• Seasons of Strongman - Year 2 book (Chapters 13-24) in both ePub and PDF formats.

• All appendices from Seasons of Strongman.

• Pre-Competition Program and How To Develop Your Own For the Competition Events.

• Pre-Competition Checklist - Never leave anything behind again.

These books and all their contents are entirely in digital format and will be delivered to you immediately upon purchase. While the size and quality of the completed book enticed me to publish it in a physical format, the best way to include all of the training programs and bonus content in the most accessible way possible is to package it all digitally. The ePub format of the Seasons of Strongman book itself reads perfectly on a tablet or eReader. You can also print out or view the PDF version in your favourite app.