The Beginning
After an article written by C.J. Murphy was published on elitefts.com about how Strongman training has a greater carryover to powerlifting than powerlifting does to Strongman, I was confident that “Murph” presented some valid points. However, I was still far too skeptical to fully believe it. So without anyone who I trained with knowing, I conducted the experiment myself to answer the questions that were giving me the headaches. The following, which lists my assumptions as to what will happen at the end of the eight week cycle, was written approximately one week before I was scheduled to start.
1. Decreased squat, maintained bench, and increased deadlift
2. Loss of body weight that would come in combination from more cardio-based work and less hypertrophy work
3. Increased work load capacity, allowing me to squeeze in more volume with less recovery time
4. Better tolerance to lactic acid build-up
The Plan
My program, generally speaking, stayed consistent—four days of gym lifting and event training with two days of intense cardio. The following is a basic template that I used:
Mondays: A designated lower body day in which either a squat or deadlift was done. Over a period of four weeks, I rotated the ME deadlift, RE squat, RE deadlift, and ME squat. This was always followed with high volume glute ham raises or kettlebell swings, some sort of drag performed for three sets of 50–80 feet (weight varying depending on day), and standing abdominal pull-downs.
Wednesday: A designated upper body day in which either a log clean and press or axle clean and press was done. Over a period of four weeks, I rotated the ME log, RE axle, ME axle, and RE log. This was followed by three sets of tire flips using either a 800 lbs tire for short distances or a 650 lbs tire for 80 feet or more. Then, I would do some close grip bench, 3–5 sets of 5–20 reps, and bent over barbell rows using the same set and rep scheme.
Friday: Another lower body day but event oriented. I would do up to eight sets of stones to a box varying from 48–56” high. I would start off with singles and then move up to a top set of a three stone series as heavy as possible. Next, I did either farmer’s walks or yoke walks for four sets of 50–160 feet. That’s it for this day.
Saturday: A light total body day just to get the blood flowing. I did lots of stretching, abdominals, and talking.
Truthfully, I didn’t do much grip work. On Saturday, I would do 3–5 sets of something like COC grippers, Rolling Thunder, or the inch dumbbell trainer.
On Tuesdays and Thursdays, I would do a 15–30 minute conditioning workout involving multiple sets of sprints, car pushes, and stair sprints. To take full advantage of what I thought would be an excellent way to lose some pounds, I ate a diet of vegetables, chicken, and lean red meat. I only ate brown rice pre-workout. Surprisingly enough, the vegetables gave me tons of energy. I also slept as much as possible because fatigue set in much faster and harder compared to when I was just doing powerlifting training.
The Conclusion
On the week beginning Oct 16, 2006 and ending October 22, 2006, I tested my powerlifting maxes with no deload period or any sort of reduction in training. During this week, I didn’t do anything differently, except eat more food and not do any conditioning work. The results were as follows:
In all, I’m very happy with the results that occurred. I expected my squat to decrease and my deadlift to increase, but the exact opposite happened. The reason for this is that Strongman events are very taxing on the posterior chain, and I especially felt it in the spinal erector area. The foam roller and I became really good friends. What I was most surprised (and excited) about was that I finally hit the 405 lbs bench that I had been chasing for months for a double!
As long as I leaned out, I’ll take the extra body weight, and I will definitely take the heightened level of GPP. When you’re 300 lbs plus, you take it any way you can. Strongman training is grueling, and if you come from a powerlifting training background, it will be even more grueling. However, eventually, you do adapt, just like anything else. Strongman is beneficial to powerlifting, and apparently has a great carryover, but powerlifting builds a tremendous base for Strongman training. I wouldn’t say one is better than the other, but both have a place in a good strength and size gaining program.
While my passion is with the monolift, I will continue to compete in Strongman and continue to find out ways to make both work. The biggest piece of knowledge I want to make known is that if an individual is attempting to combine both things, one is going to suffer. You really must be careful that you don’t overtrain. With how taxing the event work and gym lifts you must perform are, it’s easier to overtrain. I’ve found that it’s very easy to be over ambitious in the gym so don’t make that mistake.
Mike Pelosi started lifting weights at the age of sixteen as a 400 lbs high school student trying to impress the ladies. Since then, Mike has competed in Strongman and powerlifting events. He placed first in the heavyweight novice class at the MA Strongest Man 2006 and first in the heavyweight open class at New England's Strongest Man 2006. His best official lifts are a 766 lbs squat, 438 lbs bench press, 685 lbs deadlift, and a 1846 lbs total done at the age of 18 in the SHW class. Now 19 years old, Mike plans on furthering his success in the strength athletics field. He trains at Total Performance Sports.
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