Strongman

Etymology

Many sources state that strongman is a man who performs remarkable feats possessing enormous amounts of strength. In the 19th century, the term strongman referred to an exhibitor of strength during circus performances.

History

Modern strongman generally credits its origins to circus strongmen who became popular in the 19th and 20th centuries. In the first half of the 20th century, strongmen performed various feats of strength such as the bent press (not to be confused with the bench press, which did not exist at the time), supporting large amounts of weight held overhead at arm's length, steel bending, chain breaking, etc. They needed to have large amounts of wrist, hand, and tendon strength for these feats, as well as prodigious oblique strength. Athletes including Louis Cyr, Apollon, Donald Dinnie, and Arthur Saxon are credited as major innovators in the sport. Many events today, including the Cyr dumbbell, Apollon's axle clean-and-press, Dinnie stones, and Saxon bar deadlift bear their names.

In the late 20th century, the term strongman evolved to describe one who competes in strength athletics – a more modern eclectic strength competition in which competitors display their raw functional strength through exercises such as deadlifts, squats, overhead log lifts, lifting stones, toting refrigerators, pulling heavy vehicles and tossing or loading weights. With the advent of the World's Strongest Man competition, strongman began to be formalized as a competitive sport rather than a non-competitive spectacle. Since the advent of the modern sport, competitions including Arnold Strongman Classic, Europe's Strongest Man, Strongman Champions League, World's Ultimate Strongman, World's Strongest Viking, World Muscle Power Classic, Fortissimus, Pure Strength, Rogue Invitational, Shaw Classic, Giants Live, IFSA World Championships, Strongman Super Series, World Strongman Challenge and Siberian Power Show have adopted a standardized format based on the original World's Strongest Man.

More than 30 countries also hold national-level strongman competitions. Local competitions featuring amateur athletes are also common.

Modern format

In its modern format, a strongman competition will typically consist of several events (ranging from as few as five to as many as eight at the international level) testing different aspects of strength. These may include static lifts such as a deadlift, overhead press, or squat or a dynamic event involving moving with weight. Athletes may, for example, pick up a heavy apparatus and carry it for a certain distance or drag a vehicle attached by a harness.

Strongman competitions score competitors by comparing their relative place in an event and awarding more points to competitors with better finishes. Typically, first place in an event will receive a number of points equal to the number of competitors. For example, if an athlete finishes first in the deadlift in a competition with 10 competitors, they will receive 10 points, with second receiving nine, and so on, until last place receives only one point.

Most competitions award zero points if an athlete could not complete a lift or start the event--if, for example, an athlete could not pick up a stone in a stone-carrying event, they would be awarded zero points. Competitions will also normally split points based on ties, adding up the combined points for their places and averaging them out. For example, if two athletes finish tied for first in a 10-athlete competition, the scores for first and second (10 and 9 points) will be added up and divided by two, resulting in each athlete being awarded 9.5 points.

Training

Training for strongman involves building overall strength in the gym and training with competition implements to gain familiarity. In the gym, it is necessary to train the entire body for strength, especially with variants of the squat, deadlift, and overhead press. Explosive power is also important, which is developed by weightlifting style lifts and cardiovascular conditioning. Additionally, grip strength must be developed and it is also imperative to improve mental toughness and pain tolerance.

Although you can do general strength training, at a typical gym, training with a strongman regimen requires equipment not typically found in a gym. Some equipment used in a strongman competition would have to be found custom-made or at a strongman gym. Some of these equipment includes natural stones, tree trunk logs, farmers walk frames, yokes, kegs and various sorts of vehicles.

Another part of a strongman's training is its intense diet regime. The biggest strongman competitors would need to ingest around 8,000 - 10,000 calories a day.

Events

Though competitive strongman events are ever-changing, there are a number of staples that frequently appear on the international stage, including:

• Deadlift (and its variants: Elephant bar/ Hummer Tyre/ Silver Dollar/ Deficit/ Car/ Barrel etc.)
• Squat (and its variants: Giant Barbell/ Barrel/ Double-T Cambered bar etc.)
• Atlas stones and Manhood stones
• Natural stones (Husafell Stone, Dinnie Stones, Inver Stones, Steinstossen, Odd Haugen Tombstone etc.)
• Log Press/ Axle Press/ Viking press
• Circus/ Cyr/ Inch dumbbell
• Vehicle pull
• Super Yoke/ Bale Tote/ Frame carry
• Farmers Walk/ Timber carry
• Keg Toss
• Weight over bar
• Power stairs/ Duck walk
• Fingal's Fingers/ Norse Hammers
• Loading Medley
• Hercules hold/ Front hold/ Deadlift hold
• Conan's Wheel/ Basque circle
• Car flip/ Tyre flip
• Bar bending
• Grip strength events}}

Notable strongmen

Main article: List of strongmen

Traditional strongmen

The strongmen are listed according to the chronological order of their birth.

• Orm Storolfsson
• Grettir Ásmundarson
• Thomas Topham
• Angus Graham
• Snorri Björnsson
• Peter Francisco
• Brynjólfur Eggertsson
• Otto Eberstadt
• Charles Vansittart
• Angus MacAskill
• Donald Dinnie
• Louis Attila
• John Holtum
• Edwin Checkley
• Signor Lawanda
• Koca Yusuf
• Louis 'Apollon' Uni
• Pierre Gasnier
• Louis Cyr
• George Levasseur
• Luigi 'Milo' Brinn
• Gilman Low
• Eugen Sandow
• William Bankier
• Ivan Poddubny
• Warren Lincoln Travis
• Georg Lurich
• Georg Hackenschmidt
• Arthur Saxon
• The Great Gama
• Stanislaus Zbyszko
• Monte Saldo
• Gustav Frištenský
• Thomas Inch
• Max Sick
• Karl Swoboda
• Kodi Rammurthy Naidu
• Frank Saldo
• John B. Gagnon
• Paul Trappen
• William Pullum
• Bittor Zabala (Arteondo)
• Alexander Zass
• Hermann Görner
• George F. Jowett
• Wladek Zbyszko
• Joe Greenstein
• Zishe Breitbart
• Ed Zercher
• Karl Norberg
• Karl Mörke
• Henry 'Milo' Steinborn
• Don Athaldo
• Joe Bonomo
• Siegmund Klein
• Charles Rigoulot
• Joe Rollino
• Gunnar Salómonsson
• Ian Gordon Batchelor
• The Great Antonio
• Doug Hepburn
• Mat Tarzan
• Paul Anderson
• Otto Acron
• Torkel Ravndal
• Jack Shanks
• Terry Todd
• John Massis
• Jon Cole
• Douglas Edmunds
• Valentin Dikul
• Richard Sorin
• Greg Matonick
• Iñaki Perurena}}

Modern strongmen

The following 78 strongmen have reached the podium (1st, 2nd or 3rd place) of World's Strongest Man since 1977 and/or World Muscle Power Classic from 1985 to 2004 and/or Arnold Strongman Classic since 2002 and/or World's Ultimate Strongman from 2018 to 2021 and/or Rogue Invitational since 2021 and or Strongest Man on Earth since 2023. They are listed according to the chronological order of their podium appearance.

25 of them have won the World's Strongest Man (WSM), 11 have won the World Muscle Power Classic (WMPC), 9 have won the Arnold Strongman Classic (ASC), 3 have won the World's Ultimate Strongman (WUS), 3 have won the Rogue Invitational (RI) and 3 have won the Strongest Man on Earth (SMOE).

7 men have won both WSM & WMPC (Kazmaier, Capes, Sigmarsson, Reeves, Magnússon, Ahola, Karlsen). 5 men have won both WSM & ASC (Savickas, Shaw, Björnsson, Licis, Hooper). 2 men have won both WSM & WUS (Björnsson, Novikov). 3 men have won both WSM & RI (Licis, Novikov, Hooper). 2 men have won WSM, ASC & RI (Licis & Hooper). 1 man has won WSM, WUS & RI (Novikov). 1 man has won WSM, ASC, RI & SMOE (Hooper).

• Bruce Wilhelm (WSM)
• Bob Young
• Ken Patera
• Don Reinhoudt (WSM)
• Lars Hedlund
• Bill Kazmaier (WSM & WMPC)
• Geoff Capes (WSM & WMPC)
• Dave Waddington
• Tom Magee
• John Gamble
• Jón Páll Sigmarsson (WSM & WMPC)
• Simon Wulfse
• Ab Wolders
• Cees de Vreugd
• Mark Higgins
• Jamie Reeves (WSM & WMPC)
• Hjalti Árnason
• O.D. Wilson
• Ilkka Nummisto
• Magnús Ver Magnússon (WSM & WMPC)
• Henning Thorsen
• Gary Taylor (WSM)
• Ted van der Parre (WSM)
• Riku Kiri
• Manfred Hoeberl (WMPC)
• Anton Boucher
• Gerrit Badenhorst
• Marko Varalahti
• Forbes Cowan (WMPC)
• Torfi Ólafsson
• Jouko Ahola (WSM & WMPC)
• Magnus Samuelsson (WSM)
• Raimonds Bergmanis (WMPC)
• Flemming Rasmussen
• Mark Philippi
• Regin Vágadal
• Wout Zijlstra
• Janne Virtanen (WSM)
• Svend Karlsen (WSM & WMPC)
• Hugo Girard (WMPC)
• Paul Smeets
• Mark Henry (ASC)
• Phil Pfister (WSM)
• Mariusz Pudzianowski (WSM)
• Žydrūnas Savickas (WSM & ASC)
• Vasyl Virastyuk (WSM)
• Glenn Ross
• Jesse Marunde
• Dominic Filiou
• Mikhail Koklyaev
• Don Pope
• Andrus Murumets
• Sebastian Wenta
• Terry Hollands
• Derek Poundstone (ASC)
• Dave Ostlund
• Travis Ortmayer
• Brian Shaw (WSM, ASC & SMOE)
• Mike Jenkins (ASC)
• Vytautas Lalas (ASC)
• Hafþór Júlíus Björnsson (WSM, ASC & WUS)
• Mike Burke
• Mateusz Kieliszkowski (WUS)
• Eddie Hall (WSM)
• Jerry Pritchett
• Mikhail Shivlyakov
• Martins Licis (WSM, ASC & RI)
• Oleksii Novikov (WSM, WUS & RI)
• Tom Stoltman (WSM)
• JF Caron
• Maxime Boudreault
• Bobby Thompson
• Luke Stoltman
• Mitchell Hooper (WSM, ASC, RI & SMOE)
• Evan Singleton (SMOE)
• Lucas Hatton
• Rayno Nel (WSM)
• Thomas Evans}}

Additionally, the following 53 strongmen have reached either 4th or 5th places of World's Strongest Man and/or World Muscle Power Classic and/or Arnold Strongman Classic and/or World's Ultimate Strongman and/or Rogue Invitational and or Strongest Man on Earth:

• Lou Ferrigno
• Franco Columbu
• Jon Kolb
• Gus Rethwisch
• Bishop Dolegiewicz
• Jerry Hannan
• Craig Wolfley
• Ernie Hackett
• Hamish Davidson
• Rudolph Kuester
• George Hechter
• Dan Markovic
• Jean-Pierre Brulois
• Tom Hawk
• László Fekete
• Adrian Smith
• Berend Veneberg
• Heinz Ollesch
• Pieter de Bruyn
• Martin Muhr
• Wayne Price
• Nathan Jones
• Bill Lyndon
• Johnny Perry
• Brian Bell
• Arvydas Pintinas
• Andy Bolton
• Steve Kirit
• Bill Pittuck
• Sami Heinonen
• Jarek Dymek
• Brian Schoonveld
• Odd Haugen
• Brian Siders
• Benedikt Magnússon
• Oleksandr Pekanov
• Mark Felix
• Tarmo Mitt
• Vidas Blekaitis
• Stefán Sölvi Pétursson
• Laurence Shahlaei
• Krzysztof Radzikowski
• Dimitar Savatinov
• Konstantine Janashia
• Matjaž Belšak
• Rauno Heinla
• Rob Kearney
• Trey Mitchell
• Mathew Ragg
• Tristain Hoath
• Austin Andrade
• Paddy Haynes
• Bryce Johnson

International accolades

• The table below summarizes the most decorated strongmen in modern history with the most number of international wins in their careers. Entry criteria: a minimum of 5 international wins (1st places only) in open weight and age categories.

• As of 1 January 2026

Incorrect usage

Strongman is often incorrectly used to describe a person who does powerlifting, weightlifting or bodybuilding. Due to the circus and entertainment background, nineteenth-century bodybuilders were expected to mingle with the crowd during intermission and perform strength feats like card tearing, nail bending, etc. to demonstrate strength as well as symmetry and size.

Strongwoman

Main article: Strongwoman

The sport also extends to female competitors. From 2000s onwards, women's competitions were held internationally and from late 2010s, they received mainstream attention thanks to competitions such as World's Strongest Woman, Arnold Strongwoman Classic and Rogue Invitational.

References

References

1. Maanas, Aaromal. (2 November 2022). "Who is the World's Strongest Man? Ranking the top five Strongest Men in History".
2. "About Strongman - competitors are tested for their pure strength".
3. (15 June 2023). "The origins of Strongman sport, a story of strength and challenge".
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6. (April 2024). "STRONGMAN".
7. (20 May 2017). "Notable Strongmen and their fascinating feats of strength".
8. "STRONGMAN CONTESTS".
9. "Strongman Training at Home".
10. "Strongman Events". strongman.org.
11. (December 31, 2025). "Strength Results - Profile lists". Strength Results.
12. (December 31, 2025). "Strongman Archives - Athletes". Strongman Archives.