Strongman Workout – Muscle Upgrade Starting Now

Don’t be swayed by the title of this workout. It’s for men and women who want to challenge their muscles and get fitter.

We’re talking about everything from the upper body to core strength to grip strength.

Strongman lifting is a surefire way to ignite that strength you always knew you had. Let’s chat about what’s involved in Strongman training and how to get it done.

What is Strongman Training?

The Strongman workout and training program came from the Strongman Lifts website designed by a Belgian man named Mehdi.

He established this training program to teach others the proper way to lift weights. The idea is to complete five sets of five reps of each exercise before moving on to the next one.

Most of the Strongman training involves compound exercises that utilize multiple muscle groups at once. That means you need less time to work the entire body. Winning!

The Strongman equipment is found at most gyms. You need a bench press, barbell, and weights. Each time you complete five reps of five, you need to increase your weights by 2.5kg or 5lbs.

Increasing your weights incrementally and lifting heavy weights creates a constant challenge on your muscles, ensuring they become more powerful.

High intensity through short bursts increases functional strength for everyday life.

Strongman Movements

The main movements of Strongman training are squats, bench presses, deadlifts, barbell rows, and overhead presses.

These Strongman exercises are varied depending on the day. Perform squats, bench presses, and barbell rows on the first day. Then the next time you workout, do squats, overhead presses, and deadlifts.

Remember, each time you exercise, alternate the workout you perform, so you’re never doing the same activity back to back. Also, Strongman training intends to exercise three days a week with a day in between for rest.

Some people prefer Monday/Wednesday/Friday, or you could do Tuesday/Thursday/Saturday. Whatever you decide, ensure a day of rest to get proper muscle recovery.

Strongman lifts require only five reps for several reasons. For one thing, fewer reps with heavy weight mean building muscle strength, but not bodybuilding for huge muscles.

Also, when you perform fewer reps, you focus more on your form, which is essential in weight lifting to prevent injury. When you perform too many reps and your muscles get too tired, that can cause injuries due to improper form.

This way, the work is done before the muscle is too fatigued. Be sure to take a 90-second rest in between each set.

Squats

The squats are known as the “backbone” of this workout. Why? Because we all love them so much and can’t live without them.

That is true, but there’s more to it than that. Squats work the entire body, especially when adding heavy weight to the equation.

Everything from your upper body to your core, back, and legs are working hard to stabilize you as you lower and lift. Squats work even when you just use body weight. It’s like the exercise that just keeps on giving. 

Think about how much you use squats every day. It’s inherent for our functional strength to practice squats and perfect them.

They build strength throughout our bodies that ensure core stability, and leg strength is the result. Who knew squats were so incredible, right?

Bench Press

The bench press is king for excellent upper body strength through the shoulder, triceps, and chest. It even helps to increase your grip strength.

While this Strongman lift requires brute strength, but you can do it. Start with just the barbell without weights if you’re not used to weightlifting.

Usually, a barbell weighs about 45lbs (20kgs) on its own. That’s quite a bit of weight already. As you get stronger, add weights to each end in increments of 5lbs.

Let the barbell come to your chest with your elbows in, and press back up and hold. Repeat five times, and you’re done. 

Barbell Row

When you think about the barbell row, think back muscles. Everything from your rhomboids to your lats to your hips and arms is worked with this exercise.

It’s essential to keep a strong, flat back when performing this one. The best way to do that is to engage your core simultaneously as you row back.

Make sure you pull your elbows straight back and engage your back muscles to your lower chest as you pull the bar. Hold at the top and push back down.

Are you feeling pretty indestructible already?

Overhead Press

The overhead press is excellent for your shoulder muscles and arms while using the contraction of your shoulder blades and abs to stabilize.

This works on your grip strength as you press the barbell overhead with a narrow grip to avoid a shoulder injury. Press the barbell up and lock your elbows at the top with your shoulders pushed toward the ceiling to do this properly.

You might have seen this move in Strongman competitions as it is one of the best for building arms muscles and strengthening your shoulders.

We work our shoulders constantly by lifting things overhead. Functional fitness is at its finest here.

Deadlift

The deadlift has a high impact and is the one exercise that you will perform only one set.

Because this program is heavily focused on squats, adding too many deadlifts to the equation could cause injury. It works your legs intensely, which you have already done with the squats.

To ensure you don’t injure yourself, one set of five is all you need for this exercise.

The essential thing about the deadlift is to keep a neutral spine as you perform the exercise to avoid back injuries.

Also, take care in the amount of weight you start with if you are a beginner.

Strongman Workouts with Sandbags

If a barbell isn’t your favorite or if you don’t have access to a gym, using a sandbag as your weight is an excellent option.

You can get different bags that vary in weight increments so that you can follow along with the guide of increasing your weight by 5lbs each time.

Simply add more sand to your bag and get to working out.

There are sandbag squats, bent over rows, deadlifts, and presses like the barbell only with a sandbag. The best thing about the sandbag workout is it can be used anywhere and is easy to transport.

Finals Thoughts on Strongman

If you are looking for more with your workouts, try the Strongman exercises and get more powerful muscles with a side of mental toughness.

Strongman uses compound exercises to get upper to lower body workouts done.

Once you build up that muscle strength, there might be a Strongman event or Strongman competition near you that will propel your fitness level forward.

Check out Robert Oberst’s routine and how he became a Strongman sensation. It will have you motivated in no time!