I watched as some more guys were eliminated on the 700. Now it was my turn. 700 was a big jump from the 630 I had got in training. It seemed unlikely that I would get it based off of that alone. But the 680 came off the floor with some speed so I felt there must be a little more left in the tank. It was game time. 

If my lift was perfect it just might be possible… I approached the bar. 

In the immortal words of Ronnie Coleman, "everyone wanna be a bodybuilder, but nobody wants to lift no heavy ass weight!" The same can be said of the modern-day strongman. Lifters want to be seen picking up weights from the floor while making the trip to the lockout as awkward as possible with the Steinborn squat and Zercher deadlift constantly being showcased. The truly impressive lifters don't have time for that riff-raff because they are either training, eating or competing. 

Nestled under the trees and surrounded by the droning of hundreds of bagpipes and the rat-a-tat of marching drums is how we found ourselves as the 2018 IHGF Canadian Stones of Strength got underway. With the backdrop of Lake Ontario visible between and sword fighting lessons going on across the park from us, we couldn’t be in a better position to compete while still being shaded by the trees. 

It's a question that gets asked over and over again and cycles through the mind of every athlete.

Last week I was feeling pretty beat up and let down by my training not being as great as I had planned it to be. 

To travel 2 hours each way for training on the previous weekend and feel beaten by nagging injuries impacting overall energy and motivation is a huge disappointment. 

What if you can't find access to strongman implements in your area?

The stage has been set for the 2018 Canadian Hercules competition on July 28, which is a qualifier to the WNSF championship in Hungary. 

Each year the top drug-free lifters in Canada vie for that qualifying spot to get to compete internationally with the best in the world. 

The chain yoke is the pendulously evil, redheaded step-brother of the yoke.

Strongman will never make it as a mainstream sport, but here’s why I think that natural strongman and strongwoman competitions could help the sport to grow.

Many of you may already know this but I consider cold brew a critical component of a correctly crafted competition concoction.

Building greater strength and sports skill with meditation.

I was recently watching a video of a seminar Brian Shaw was holding and in it, he was talking about how he believes he still has untapped potential, even for him...

Questions include DOMS from competition, gym lifts that carry-over to strongman, IBS and digestive issues, and keto diets. 

The process for deciding on specific competitions to attend in strongman and strength sports. 

Some lifters like predictability. Strongmen expect the unexpected. Competing in Canada in the winter is tough and lots of improvisation often take place to deal with the weather conditions. This is the competition recap for Sons of Samson 2018.

The incessant whir of rows upon rows of treadmills.

People standing around chatting and taking selfies.

Where are the people actually putting in the work to achieve their goals in the gym?

Oh, there’s no way of beating that Kristoff, he was born with a barbell in his hand and could squat 500 as a kid in high school. His genetics are unbeatable. 

How many times have you heard “the G word” thrown around as a reason why someone else is the best athlete around and unstoppable? Maybe you yourself have said that you can’t stand up to someone else’s genetic gifts? 

Blaming your lack of a stake in the competition or attributing someone else’s success to genetics is a sham of out a cop-out. 

It’s Monday evening and you are on your way to the gym to train. You’ve sort of planned out that you’re going to work on pressing but don’t exactly know what exercises you’ll be doing and might throw some curls in at the end for a pump, because why not?. Work was stressful today, you’re hungry, and you don’t really want to be training.

What’s wrong with this picture, besides EVERYTHING?