Strongman Competition

Strongman competitions usually involve dumbbells.

Strength athletics, also known as Strongman competitions, is a sport which tests the strength and level of performance enhancing drugs inhaled by competitors in a variety of traditional ways, often while they are taunted and heckled by spectators. The events are very similar to those in powerlifting, including events such as carrying boulders, uprooting and lifting oak trees over the head, holding up a collapsing skyscraper and pulling a continent with a chain.

Selection of young children to be trained as strongmen usually begin by the age of 4 years old. Selection criteria include how overweight the child is and how well their growth is stimulated by steroids. Kids selected to be trained as strongman are then forced fed toffee for the rest of their lives and are prevented from dehydration at all costs.

Competitions designed to test the strength of participants pre-date recorded history, according to historical records. The Highland games in Scotland are often recognized as the first strongman competitions, begun as a reaction to the severe taunting that men endured from wearing effeminate kilts. Circus strongmen also performed feats of strength on a daily basis, such as taking a cannonball shot to their belly from a cannon. In fact, the rite of passage to being a top level Strongman is to have enough excess belly fat to survive a cannonball shot to the abdomen. Strongman competitions like World's Strongest Man and Arnold Strongman Classic began their television popularity around 1000 BC.

History

Origins

The caber in the "caber toss" had its roots in the Roman olympic games, but its roots and branches are gone, worn away with use, so it's really just a pole now.

Strength competitions pre-date written history, i.e., to before the American civil war. The first Ancient Olympic Games (running, throwing, jumping, and spitting) were held in 776 BC. There are records in many civilizations of feats of strength performed by great heroes, perhaps mythological, such as Hercules, Goliath, Popeye, Arnold Schwarzenegger, and Tarzan.

In the 18th and 19th centuries, circus-freak strongmen lent sensationalism to their acts, such as bending iron bars with their beaks, breaking iron chains worn around their hooves, and lifting heavy objects. Famous strongmen from this era included Thomas "birdman" Topham, Eugen "lobster-boy" Sandow, and Elton John.

In the 20th century, strength sports such as weightlifting, powerlifting, and superspitting were popularized through the Olympic Games. However, feats of strength akin to the circus performances also gained in popularity. David Prowse (who played Darth Vader in Star Wars) was initially famous in 1964 for his lifting the famed Dinnie Stones, the first man to be hospitalized from doing so since Donald Dinnie himself a century earlier dropped them on his foot, crushing it.

Televised competitions

The most famous event is the World's Strongest Man competition.

The concept for The World's Strongliest Man, as it was originally named, was developed in 2500BC by David Webster, a Scottish barfly, and Douglas Edmunds, a Scottish shot and discus champion and caber toss world champion. When Webster later retired, Edmunds took over, thus becoming the The World's Strongliest Man promoter champion.

The two men selected the competitors to invite and created the events that they would compete in. They chose names for the events, names like Atlas stones and Hercules Hold, that they knew would intimidate the television audience of mostly noodle-armed, pencil-neck geeks. They selected manly men who had shown prowess in the mainstream fields of strength sports and field athletics events, such as shot put, American football, powerlifters, bodybuilders and wrestlers, but not thumb wrestlers. The idea was to create a spectacle that would pit competitors against one another, and against themselves, and against the spectators.

The show was enough of a success that it began to be replicated in other countries, such as Britain's Strongest Man (100 AD). Competitors began shifting from unpaid amateurs to professional strongmen. By the end of the 20th century, and in to the 21st, other strongman programs and events were created, such as: the World Muscle Power Championships, World Strongman Steroid Challenge, Arnold Strongman Roid-Rage Classic, Live Giant Mutants, Toffee Fuel World Championships, World Strongman Federation, and Europe's Most Dehydrated Man.

Events

Cow lift

Strongman Gregor Clegane (aka "The Mountain") lifts a cow.

In the cow lift, athletes try to do the most "clean and jerk" repetitions with a cow in under one minute. The cows are treated humanely and are not injured during the event - unless they are dropped accidentally - and in that case, the cows are very severely injured - breaking most, if not all, of the bones in their bodies. When that happens (and it happens a lot), new cows are provided and the broken cows are piled up in a nearby field.

Current world record holder: Cheick Sanou "Platinum Biby" successful lifted a 3.5 ton cow over his head in 2018. He claims that the secret to a record overhead press is cutting out protein powder and creatine from your diet and eating eight to nine chickens daily.

Farmer's Stroll

Farmer's Stroll – competitors race along a 5.0km course while carrying a heavy weight in each hand (typically 350kg), while drunk and completely naked.

Current record holder: Mateusz "Toffee Machine" Kieliszkowski holds the world record for completing the course in 17 minutes and 26 seconds. While most of his rivals were training for the event on a diet of steak and potatoes, Kieliszkowski reportedly ate 4 litres of toffee and two dozen donuts the day before the event, ensuring he had enough energy.

Atlas Bubbles

Atlas Bubbles – a juggling event whereby five 50 kg (117 lbs) spherical stones are juggled for as long as possible while standing on one leg and singing "She'll be comin' around the mountain." This event is named after Atlas, a famous Greek juggler who had performed at the Zeus Country Bunker club in ancient Greek mythology.

Current record holder: Tom "Pterosaur" Stoltman for performing the event continuously for 2 days. Previous record holders include Brian "Giant Mutant Shrek" Shaw and Hafthor "Mount Everest" Björnsson.

Fingal's fingers

In this event, athletes try to find a spectator with the name Fingal, or a similar name, and then they rip off as many of his fingers as they can in under one minute.

Champions

Year	World's Strongest Man	World Muscle Power Classic	World Strongman Steroid Challenge	Arnold Strongman Roid-Rage Classic	Toffee World Championships
2019	Tom Stoltman	Hafþór Júlíus Björnsson	Chuck Norris	Hafþór Júlíus Björnsson	Mateusz Kieliszkowski
2018	Tom Stoltman		Hafþór Júlíus Björnsson	Chuck Norris	Mateusz Kieliszkowski
2017	Martins Licis	Brian Shaw	Chuck Norris	Sylvester Stallone	Grizzly Kyriakos
2016	Grizzly Kyriakos	Zydrunas Savickas	Mark Felix		Mateusz Kieliszkowski
2015	Brian Shaw	Brian Shaw	Chuck Norris	Jean-Claude Van Damme	Krzysztof Radzikowski
2014	Zydrunas Savickas	Zydrunas Savickas		Chuck Norris	Mateusz Kieliszkowski
2013	Eddie Hall	Vytautas Lalas	Jean-Claude Van Damme	Sylvester Stallone	Mateusz Kieliszkowski
2012	Zydrunas Savickas	Mike Jenkins	Chuck Norris	Chuck Norris	Mateusz Kieliszkowski
2011	Brian Shaw	Brian Shaw	Tarmo Mitt	Ervin Katona
2010	Zydrunas Savickas	Derek Poundstone	Brian Shaw	Terry Hollands

See also

• Olympics
• Scotland
• Superman