When people think of strongman and strongman training they often think about increasing their strength, power, and mass which allows them to lift heavier objects. While that is true, strongman competitors also need endurance training to be able to last for the entire competition and not get fatigued as soon as they lift the first stone. It is an essential part of every sport that lasts longer than a few seconds. Strongman competitors in particular need to develop strength endurance as well as cardiovascular endurance to improve their chances of winning an event.
Here is some clarification about what endurance training is, why it is important, and when a strongman should incorporate endurance training in his routine to get the maximum out of it.
What is Endurance Training
Endurance training is a type of training that increases our ability to perform at our highest possible level for a longer period. It pushes our competitive ability significantly and expands the amount of time we can operate at maximum power before we get fatigued or exhausted. Endurance by itself is the ability of our cardiovascular system to efficiently operate for a long time providing our muscles with the oxygen, energy, and nutrients it needs to function properly. Strength endurance is a combination of cardiovascular endurance and strength to pick up heavy things. Strongman training usually involves lifting a lot of different heavy objects like stones and kegs and being able to consistently lift them, take them to a certain point, leave them there and go back for another would build you strength endurance. You can increase your endurance by doing the same exercises you already do but increase the repetitions. Ideally, you want to do over 10 repetitions to effectively increase endurance for each particular exercise.
Why Endurance Training is Important
Strongman training definitely has to have some endurance training especially for people who are looking to compete and win an event. Strongman competitions are often long and hard. They are designed like that to test the overall fitness of the athletes competing and that involves their endurance. Many factors can affect your endurance including pressure and stress. If you put in enough effort during your strongman training for the event and focus on all aspects and not just gaining power and strength, it will be much easier to cope with the pressure and stress when the real event comes. Incorporating strength endurance training into your routine will decrease your chances of getting fatigued in the middle of the round and you will be able to keep going for much longer which increases your chances of winning the entire event.
When Should You Start Endurance Training
Endurance training should be incorporated into your strongman training closer to contest time. When there are no contests for months, it is better to focus on developing strength and power and push yourself to the limits because you have enough time to take breaks and recover properly. When there is a big contest nearing you should focus on building your strength endurance and not push your muscles too much over your limits because there is less time to recover. When you start your endurance training you should do exercises that are most commonly tested for repetitions at strongman events like tire flips, stone pickups, overhead presses, and deadlifts. If you do sets of 10 of these exercises you will be able to increase your endurance but also improve your speed and increase your mass for the event. You can also add squats, high incline chest presses, and pull-ups if you feel like you lack mass for the event.
