@@ShayanGivehchian and I have zero sympathy. I’m sure many fans of the sport will agree. WSM reminds me of Sears or Blockbuster. You gotta get with the times or die lol
100% agree .. the fans want to watch the WSM live, not 6-9 months later! Right now the WSM is just a title that happens to imply that the winner is the strongest, whereas The Arnolds shows who is the strongest. It also doesnt put the entire win / loss on the atlas stones which favours long armed, tall athletes.
It was really unfortunate that JF dropped the log on his knees and had to get quads reattached as well as blowing out his ankle. It would be amazing to see him come back - wish him a complete recovery!
I heard the ankle ended up being ok after they took him to the hospital. The last update I heard was the double quad tear, with a strong probability they'll be able to reattatch the tendons and he will recover. I hope I'm not mistaken!
He was saying it could be career ending. I mean the man is 39 years old so... I hope not though he's been one of my favorite strongmen for years. He's awesome
I think it's eye-opening that the best atlas stone loader in the world couldn't pick up a different boulder. I think the use of tacky diminishes the crushing strength necessary to pick up an odd object like that natural stone. I do agree however that if you're going to have an odd object it should be something none of the competitors have seen before. This kind of event highlights pure raw strength because there is literally zero specialization on it. I think it's important to keep events like these in the sport
Martins is, debatably, the second best atlas stone lifter in the world and managed the stone to shoulder twice. Granted he has practiced that particular stone
balance and grip were the two biggest factors. It constantly wanted to roll away when they picked it up. Some just couldn't find the balance. Some need to be more all-rounded Strongmen.
This is really interesting…I competed at Britain’s the week before and won. He must have been fatigued but also raises the question, could he have done as well even if he wasn’t? This is why I love strongman..different circumstances and similar events can play out so differently depending on completion and opponents
I was just glad they used some pads to hit for "depth" and didn't go the PL judging route. That said, they did very well meeting what would be PL depth anyway.
@@AlexanderBromley 😂😂😂 one could still say the amount of time the event took made it a shit show. The performances from the competitors was top notch though.
I mean, few of those squats would have passed in the IPF but they certainly hit untested squat depth. Not sure how I feel about the pads. But I guess it's a simple and fair solution.
Solid boxes do give a bit of pop if you time it right but it comes at the risk of hitting unevenly and getting wrecked. Can't imagine those foam pads were an assist. I'm comparing apples to apples with depth and these are there with everyone else on the top list. If the IPF wants to be the wierd ginger nerd in the corner measuring sock length, they can go right ahead
I like the dumbbell press bc it rewards people spending the time on it like you said. I think strong man progressing in a direction where you have to be strong and technical to compete is good because it allows more factors to differentiate the best
I completely agree. Events like the log press, circus dumbells, and stone lifts are arguably more technical than the powerlifting movements which I think adds a lot of depth to the sport
The squat is an annoying lift to argue. You have your Olympic weightlifter‘s that say only counts if it’s high bar close stance. The starting strength guys that get mad about back position and are more impressed with 405 their way than 585 another way. There are so many different squat camps that argue over minute details.
Regarding the surgery of JF - the arnolds paid the surgery and the transport back home to Canada. it was heartbreaking seeing JF go down like this - one of the nicest and most humble guys in our beloved sport :-(
Martins is so balanced which is what makes him so dangerous. He just hangs in every event, master of none. Then when the competition is on the line he turns it on, game day performer. I think his performance is so impressive last couple competitions after coming back from nerve damage in his shoulder after his bad bike accident a couple years ago, and his back injury a few weeks out from this show (reportedly facet joint sprain and not a disc herniation, he was lucky, but he lost a week of training).
Martins has a kind of aura now since he came back, he seems like he's on another level. He also looks about 3 times bigger than he does in his youtube videos, he really got bloated as fuck for this meet.
He's just in this bubble of ideal Strongman performance. He takes great care of himself and rehab, he does a LOT of warm-up, he has the secret documents to peak perfectly and leave the best performances on game day, and he doesn't seem to really have many distractions. It was Martins's to lose and he won. He's also the most mentally and physically consistent Strongman right now. He didn't have a weak event at the Arnold, and EVERY other Strongman had their vice at this show.
@@matt7iron I would have liked to have seen Martins really challenged on the stone to shoulder this year. In 2020 (maybe 2019 can't remember) he didn't get a full go out of it because the damn thing jumped off the stage. This year he didn't have to go all out to get a win. On that stone, Martins and Kiels are hands down the best. I'd also like to see what guys could do with it fresh(er). With stones always being the final event we never get to see fresh attempts. It would be different and could really make things interesting.
Is strongman taking over squats? Not yet, could if it’s in competition with half as frequent as the deadlift. As much as I love for it to be done raw, people have to keep in mind they have other events and they’re not powerlifters. The rise in popularity in strongman, its only a matter of time they take over the squat
Why would lifting RAW be worse for a full competition? Takes less time, less effort, less pressure on the entire system and everybody in strongman (or most anyways) hate gear anyways. They have it in to inflate the numbers bc having the worlds strongest men squat less than 400 kg wouldn't look too good, that's it.
I thought Caron was gonna win WSM this year, was really upset to see what happened to him. I hope he makes a full recovery and comes back stronger then ever
I have to disagree about the stones, I think stones are great events, perfect for strongman. I think squats are kind of a weird event for strongman. It's nothing like powerlifting, lifting a rock is much harder than weights. A lot of things that make you strong feel awkward as you do them. If you only train certain muscle groups, it should be not shocker if it feels awkward.
I started wearing some camo print clothes to the gym so I can sneak up on the weights. That way they get confused when I start lifting them so I can maximise my gains.
if you didn’t expect JF to come out and win, you aren’t aware of him or Martins at all. Martins went to Canada and trained with JF and they were shifting huge numbers. Strongman youtubers are awesomely entertaining
A lot of the injuries are people not taking time off to recover. I think there's a big lesson to be learned from Martins. He had an injury, really took the time to repair all his nagging injuries before returning. These guys doing multiple big events a year constantly injured isn't helping their bodies as these weights go through the ceiling.
Awesome video! For someone who is passionate about strength training but doesn't know a lot about the top strongman athletes, your commentary was much appreciated.
@@Aaron-ec8uc the bar is harder to stabilize, not quite as hard as an SSB or anything like that, but the bar wants to rock forwards and backwards on you once you stack enough weight on it. Great movement
Not sure I agree with your opinions on the stone. I know when they first introduced it Shaw went out and trained with it, but then he didn’t do too great. Meanwhile Kiels got it 3 times (then 5 the year after), in one of my all time favourite strength moments to watch. But that’s just my opinion. I just absolutely love stone to shoulder events. Thanks for the good video anyway!
It's a real shame Kieliczkowski couldn't compete this year. I mean a lot of those trials were his speciality, stone to shoulder, log press, dumbell press, frame carry. He dominated in all of those in the past.
That's too bad, but avoiding injury is a legitimate skill like strength. Yes some guys get unlucky but we need to start giving credit to guys who put in the hours into injury prevention
Absolutely understand when you don't find it good for the value of an event when many guys zero... On the other hand I like that nimbus of "heaviest show in the world" which means to me that even the strongest can (and will!) fail. But maybe there should be some fine tuning... Health of the athletes is another important factor because it's not that they are paid millions for setting their bodies on the line!
It is so interesting seeing Licis and Novikov be such powerhouses at their size since mass and height usually is so dominant. Their technique/precision is a pleasure to watch. Martins is a big favorite of mine and Novikov is hard not to be a fan of
I worked the warmup room and there was a good 30-40 minutes between JF's last warmup squat and his opener. The man was a monster lifter. So sad to see him get injured.
i could kind of see over the wall into the warmup room but couldnt see a lot of it too...what did the guys do to stay warm for an hour between Jfs injury and when the show started again?
@@highviewbarbell great question, I'm not sure. I was busy working with the crew to handle JF's injury, so i'm not entirely sure. I think some of them went in the back to press the log a couple times.
@@alexmilburn4261 hey good on you for helping with that! that brings me to another question then, why was it that they dismantled the entire platform to get to him? just for safety so he didnt have to move at all and you could roll the stretcher up right alongside?
Fun event to watch. I will probably go some time since I did Grad School in Columbus. I really like how they just stream it for everyone as opposed to world's doing the insane delay for no reason. I also happened to be watching the record breakers when Chloe Brennan did that Dinnie stone lift. Crazy stuff!
Funny to hear you say it'll be interesting if it becomes a regular event for the next 6-8 years because the word around the water cooler is that it will be more heavily featured. Supposedly they attempt to be somewhat cyclical with what events are the focus of the time frame. Probably just what people want to watch the most at the time but it works.
If feel like Jeff Caron been underrated for so long. I'm glad people are starting to finally notice, over the few couple years or so, whether his ever "Won" the World's Strongest Man before or not that guy has been in at least top 5 in world for years now. Even though his Canadian, obviously it's joke, the guy has the biggest traps I've even on somebody. I know he blows out the competition in Canada and has been the strongest guy there since I can recall. The dude is absolute monster and I hope he gets a title before he retires. If not I think he'll go down as one of the strongest ever that never won worlds strongest man.
standardizing some events is pretty good. having differences is good too. it's nice to see a squat or deadlift that makes sense, but it also is fun to watch outlandish shit which is pretty much the base of strongman displays. I don't wanna see the sport go too much towards just who's the biggest powerlifter, but every now and then it's a good reference point to see what they are lifting on the same equipment. When ya deadlift 3x bodyweight and still are way under what the opener is in strongman it puts perspective on how absolutely strong these dudes are, but then let's get back to watching them race with a few hundred pounds in each hand.
Some people have absolutely slapped knee wraps on and immediately gotten a huge benefit. I mean I didn't. I guess most didn't. But it absolutely can happen. I mean I've seen it happen. But I do get your point and the suits (obviously) are so much harder to master (which is why probably none of them had very tight suits). Will strongman take over the squat? I don't know. Imo, they haven't taken over the deadlift, either. Not truly. But especially for the squat, the suits, wraps, different bar and pads in a monolift make it quite a different beast. Drop the suit and wraps and have one of them outlift Ray, then we talk.
i think if every strongman was made to do powerlifting specific training for a year then so many records would be broken as these guys really know how to train strength in multiple feats. imagine they put there full atention just into three lifts as these guys are fucking monsters.
The funny thing about Novikov with dumbell is he's said he doesn't train it as much as other events, because he's naturally talented at it and doesn't really need to improve to win the event.
Was an awesome show this year as far as testing strength goes. Sad Mateusz couldn't make it though. Poor guy just can't stay healthy. Also LOVED seeing the women bust out some records. And any time I see Andrea is a good day, she's gorgeous AND strong
I wonder if Mateusz has pushed it too hard too early in his career. He's been injured a lot and looks so freaky, wonder if he's pushing the envelope a lot during his offseasons in addition to his competition preps.
I actually have a partial tear in my left patellar tendon, this occurred without use of PED’s I theorize from intense high volume training when I was running PL ai
It’s called strongman for a reason- I like that there was stuff taking brute strength and less technical expertise like stone to shoulder and frame carry and wheel of pain
JF has never been the most consistent, and has some obvious weak events. But his static strength is just mind boggling. These effortless squats, how effortless he made it look when he set the hummer tire deadlift record at the shaw event. He's just brutally powerful.
“Is strongman taking over the squat?” - nope! It was basically an equipped squat (suit + generous wraps), with pads on the sides which make it easier (almost like a box squat), and with a bar that is super easy on the shoulders, since these guys are all stiff af… so no, the squat remains in the domain of people who actually squat… (and yes, that would be us, the “lazy powerlifters” who “sneak into some federations” to “break some records”). Apart that, love your channel 💪🏻
@@whitebelt2905 it's a huge risk though. I've seen bounces at World's that made a rep look like 2 reps of effort. The pads seemed more forgiving than WSM's squat setup, but the ones who trained that way are the ones who got the most out of the bounce, like Rob and Martins. As far as I know, JF has trained very minimally on the pad setup and is just stupid strong on the squat. Every training clip is him walking it out and squatting without pads.
Do you think taking away assistance equipment like the wraps that can potentially detract from the building/strengthening of connective tissues like tendons, could contribute to less injuries to those tissues?
I don't think I would count Shaw out as easily as you did. I think him trying to build a business outside for strongmen is in his way, but the dude came so close to winning it last year and especially with how much luck on the injure roulette determines the outcome, he could easily be on the top step of any event still
I’ve always appreciated promoters putting on shows where it’s simple in events and therefore easy to train for which results in a lack of drama. On the amateur level whenever there’s an odd stone or an odd farmers cylinder handle or a super thick yoke welded by Harold the farmer or whatever the guys that train at that gym do exceptional at those events while the guys that didn’t have access usually struggle. Just a specificity thing. Not sure how I feel about the organizations sponsoring products that are at the national contests. They always say the strongest person should win (direct quote from one of the presidents) yet if you want to be as competitive as possible you have to drop 10-20k in equipment every year or find a gym willing to do that or travel every weekend of your life. I see both sides. Capitalism is the best way to push the sport further and it’s cool to see companies coming up with new implements or refining implements. The double sided dildo effect.
I can see both sides of it, but tend to lean towards keeping the oddball events. I don't agree with the video in that those events shouldn't be part of Strongman. It is Strongman, not Power Lifting. And I don't agree that in order to grow the sport it needs to be more like Power Lifting. I do believe more effort should be made by the promoters to allow competitors to train on equipment (at least new equipment) prior to shows. Giants Live does allows it for anyone who stops by their warehouse. It can be done. Just offering that opportunity would help solve some of this debate. We saw last year when because of Covid and a condensed schedule people were complaining about every show having basically the same events. Strongman would get boring if that were always the case. Anyway, just my opinion.
Considering most of the top ten single ply guys compete in tested federations I would hope at least one strongman would get close to being in the top ten.
to be fair to martins about the stone, if you look at this vlogs, the amount of time he dedicated to mastering the shouldering part and handling arkward objects is quite massive, so I was not surprise about him getting the event, plus he's also a world record caliber for stone.
I bought a squat suit and worked up to what was a 50lb pr and it buried me. Anyone thinking they can just throw on a suit one day and add 200lb to their squat is overly optimistic to say the least
Absolutely. Yes it helps in the long run but makes you lift differently. Like when Benni had the raw record deadlift at 460kg but couldn't move 500kg fully equipped more than 5 inches off the floor, it's all about what you train.
I would have loved to see how far zydrunas could have gone with a max squat if he was pressed. Back in 2001 he squated 410kg at the IPF world championships and he became a lot steonger since that meet. He did 400kg×5 in training and he always did better in comp
Pretty much all strongmen squat in training, but since it's almost unheard of to have a max squat in a competition none of the competitors have experience peaking the squat while also peaking for strongman events. Considering that most of the guys had virtually no experience squatting with properly wrapped knees, a monolift or that type of bar, I'd say the numbers were surprisingly high. I would love to see more unequipped squatting in the future, as long as the pads stay. The main reason I can't stand powerlifting is the argument about hitting depth in the squat, which the pads completely took out. Also, there's a fundraiser set up by a friend of JF Caron's for his recovery on gofundme. I'm sure any donations are appreciated, and go to help a fantastic strength athlete come back from injury.
Just wondering why someone in Canada would need a gofundme for surgery. Or is it for the recovery process after surgery with all the bits and bobs that aren't covered by insurance? Not bashing it, again, just wondering.
@@MellonVegan From what I heard, the surgery was done in the US and it was paid for by the Arnold's. The gofundme is more for assisting with the long recovery period.
I disagree with what you say about how much these guys are getting from wraps. The first time I maxed out with wraps, which was only the 2nd time I ever used them, I added 9% to my squat.
Hey Alex, I’ve been trying to get some advice on using your Strongman Template. I’ve tried the FB group. And I’ve been trying to figure it out on my own but not satisfied with my own programming. How would you add/alternate variations and different accessories in the “Strongman Template”? Thanks!
I agree with everything you said Alex, but given how heavy the sport has gotten, and given that these guys are trying to make a living at doing this, don't you think that the top guys are competing way too often and that is why so many devastating injuries are occurring ? ( ie. JF Caron).
they seem to have too many events bunched up. There's Britains Strongest Man, ASC, Europes and Worlds all within 4 months of eachother which is too much.
Honestly very hard to say Caron would squat 1050 in a single ply meet without that bounce of the boxes. He seems like he really nails the technique of using that unique setup of the boxes at the bottom effectively. Mind-blowingly impressive squat nonetheless
This is dumb question but could they wear something like gymnastics grips (or something functionally similar) so that they can protect their hands and grip is still rewarded
Was at Britain strongest man arena show the week before and Tom Stoltman won a 5 event comp by 12 points with 53.5 points out of 55 available. Was really hard to watch this showing of him. He wasn't himself at Arnold's. Didn't look right at all. Made up for Luke though.
I think it was more to do with the events, he is right up there for many events as the best in the world, but he has a lot of weaknesses where he gets beaten by a lot of people, and this show showed that.
I think the commentators nailed it, when things don't go his way he kind of gives up. Like the stone at the end, there's no way I buy Tom stoltman can't even break inertia on that stone. Either he was injured, or he thought "fuck it, whats the point?"
@@dessertstorm7476 he’s always struggled with that and maybe always will do. It’s certainly strongly influenced by his autism. Watching his training videos and how he was trying to get over the mental aspect of the Hercules hold, because his brain just switches off and he gives up before he’s at his limit. Hopefully he can work through it more in the future.
idk why everyone is SO SURPRISED that JF killed the squat.....the dude is one of the best deadlift/squat guys on the planet. If he didn't have a ton of other events to train for, I'll bet my house that he can squat at least 1050.
I'm confused by the statement at 3:50 I think everyone expected it, Caron as always been an absolute monster at both squat and deads, probably what hes best known for to be honest.
@@AlexanderBromley At both shaw classic 2021 and wsm 2020 the dude proved he is easily one of the top squatters within the strongman scene. I realize 11 reps at 700 pounds vs a one rep max is a different situation, but being surprised that JF absolutely murders any squat seems incredibly odd.
Murder any squat. Oh yeah, of course. What was i thinking. Instead of objectively comparing what 900lb squats have looked like throughout 5 decades of strength sports, I should've known he "would murder any squat". Noobs, jfc
@@AlexanderBromley If an experienced strongman like JF comes into a first squat at over 900 pound, I don't get how anyone is surprised he makes it look easy. It's an amazing lift, absolutely impressive. But given who it doing it, surprising really isn't a word that seems right in that context. If your statement was your weren't expecting a 900+ squat to look so easy, I guess I misunderstood. But him doing the lift the way he did really shouldn't surprise anyone who's been following strongman for the last couple years.
Not sure why you said JF came out of nowhere? Anyone that follows the sport knows JF is an insane squatter he was hitting insane training numbers leading up to the Arnold’s
Strongman competitors still want that WSM title its a massive title is just a pity the organization cant get their shit together and promote the show properly!
Looked like and empty bar on a smith machine, he did those lifts with more or less zero lean forward, it’s the weirdest form I’ve seen for such a big tall fella
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The Arnold was so damn fun to watch. And at the bare minimum, we were ABLE to watch. Unlike WSM where I couldn’t even see an event but knew who won.
Wsm is done for. They just screwed themselves
@@ShayanGivehchian and I have zero sympathy. I’m sure many fans of the sport will agree. WSM reminds me of Sears or Blockbuster. You gotta get with the times or die lol
@@vicenteochoa6498 the only thing they have left is the wsm trademarked title
i heared somewhere that the athletes think the same so that the arnolds is just better run and more fun to attend
100% agree .. the fans want to watch the WSM live, not 6-9 months later!
Right now the WSM is just a title that happens to imply that the winner is the strongest, whereas The Arnolds shows who is the strongest. It also doesnt put the entire win / loss on the atlas stones which favours long armed, tall athletes.
It was really unfortunate that JF dropped the log on his knees and had to get quads reattached as well as blowing out his ankle. It would be amazing to see him come back - wish him a complete recovery!
I heard the ankle ended up being ok after they took him to the hospital. The last update I heard was the double quad tear, with a strong probability they'll be able to reattatch the tendons and he will recover. I hope I'm not mistaken!
Dude gets injured in every single competition
@@killingsworth1253 no tf he doesn’t. He’s one of the most consistently good strongmen that competes at these shows.
He was saying it could be career ending. I mean the man is 39 years old so... I hope not though he's been one of my favorite strongmen for years. He's awesome
He'll recover but probably not 100% since he is at his peak
I think it's eye-opening that the best atlas stone loader in the world couldn't pick up a different boulder. I think the use of tacky diminishes the crushing strength necessary to pick up an odd object like that natural stone. I do agree however that if you're going to have an odd object it should be something none of the competitors have seen before. This kind of event highlights pure raw strength because there is literally zero specialization on it. I think it's important to keep events like these in the sport
Martins is, debatably, the second best atlas stone lifter in the world and managed the stone to shoulder twice. Granted he has practiced that particular stone
balance and grip were the two biggest factors. It constantly wanted to roll away when they picked it up. Some just couldn't find the balance. Some need to be more all-rounded Strongmen.
I think Tom gave up at that point. If he was 1 point behind or ahead of the lead, he would have shouldered it. Tom struggles with mental strength.
Does Tom even use tacky normally?
This is really interesting…I competed at Britain’s the week before and won. He must have been fatigued but also raises the question, could he have done as well even if he wasn’t?
This is why I love strongman..different circumstances and similar events can play out so differently depending on completion and opponents
I was just glad they used some pads to hit for "depth" and didn't go the PL judging route. That said, they did very well meeting what would be PL depth anyway.
They avoided the shit-show I was hoping it would be.
@@AlexanderBromley 😂😂😂 one could still say the amount of time the event took made it a shit show. The performances from the competitors was top notch though.
I mean, few of those squats would have passed in the IPF but they certainly hit untested squat depth.
Not sure how I feel about the pads. But I guess it's a simple and fair solution.
Solid boxes do give a bit of pop if you time it right but it comes at the risk of hitting unevenly and getting wrecked. Can't imagine those foam pads were an assist.
I'm comparing apples to apples with depth and these are there with everyone else on the top list. If the IPF wants to be the wierd ginger nerd in the corner measuring sock length, they can go right ahead
@@MellonVegan The IPF allows 1" ROM benches, who cares what they think about depth?
I like the dumbbell press bc it rewards people spending the time on it like you said. I think strong man progressing in a direction where you have to be strong and technical to compete is good because it allows more factors to differentiate the best
I completely agree. Events like the log press, circus dumbells, and stone lifts are arguably more technical than the powerlifting movements which I think adds a lot of depth to the sport
Seeing JF explode out of the hole in every attempt was crazy, I can't imagine what the other competitors might have felt when he moved 916 like 300 💀
*MOGGED*
prob part of the reason his patella tendons gave up on the log
Your commentary makes me wanna watch strongman as a casual lifter. You made this so interesting.
The squat is an annoying lift to argue. You have your Olympic weightlifter‘s that say only counts if it’s high bar close stance. The starting strength guys that get mad about back position and are more impressed with 405 their way than 585 another way. There are so many different squat camps that argue over minute details.
If you didn't squat 405 by doing the Texas Method and gaining 40lbs of weight "not very impressed" 😂
lol you're not wrong. Participation in lifting culture is 80% arguing over menial bullshit.
Since weighifting doesn't contest the squat, they kinda have no say in the matter imo
Lol great comment
@@getstrongby4038 they definitely easily have the best form tho..
Regarding the surgery of JF - the arnolds paid the surgery and the transport back home to Canada.
it was heartbreaking seeing JF go down like this - one of the nicest and most humble guys in our beloved sport :-(
Martins is so balanced which is what makes him so dangerous. He just hangs in every event, master of none. Then when the competition is on the line he turns it on, game day performer.
I think his performance is so impressive last couple competitions after coming back from nerve damage in his shoulder after his bad bike accident a couple years ago, and his back injury a few weeks out from this show (reportedly facet joint sprain and not a disc herniation, he was lucky, but he lost a week of training).
Yeah, Martins is a different breed when it comes to competing. He can pull out reserves and focus that very few others demostrate
Martins has a kind of aura now since he came back, he seems like he's on another level. He also looks about 3 times bigger than he does in his youtube videos, he really got bloated as fuck for this meet.
True. Everyone comes in to the Arnold’s big as hell because it tests static strength waayyyyyy more than Worlds strongest man.
He's just in this bubble of ideal Strongman performance. He takes great care of himself and rehab, he does a LOT of warm-up, he has the secret documents to peak perfectly and leave the best performances on game day, and he doesn't seem to really have many distractions. It was Martins's to lose and he won. He's also the most mentally and physically consistent Strongman right now. He didn't have a weak event at the Arnold, and EVERY other Strongman had their vice at this show.
Man the double bicep shot of him at the rogue invitational earlier in the year was freaky. Dudes absolutely massive since he recovered
Martins better be glad it didn't come down to him and Mateusz on that Stone to Shoulder, Mateusz throws that Stone up like you throw a pillow.
@@matt7iron I would have liked to have seen Martins really challenged on the stone to shoulder this year.
In 2020 (maybe 2019 can't remember) he didn't get a full go out of it because the damn thing jumped off the stage. This year he didn't have to go all out to get a win.
On that stone, Martins and Kiels are hands down the best. I'd also like to see what guys could do with it fresh(er). With stones always being the final event we never get to see fresh attempts. It would be different and could really make things interesting.
Is strongman taking over squats? Not yet, could if it’s in competition with half as frequent as the deadlift. As much as I love for it to be done raw, people have to keep in mind they have other events and they’re not powerlifters. The rise in popularity in strongman, its only a matter of time they take over the squat
Why would lifting RAW be worse for a full competition? Takes less time, less effort, less pressure on the entire system and everybody in strongman (or most anyways) hate gear anyways. They have it in to inflate the numbers bc having the worlds strongest men squat less than 400 kg wouldn't look too good, that's it.
@@MellonVegan because it helps to reduce injury, which is very important when it’s the first event in the contest.
@@MellonVegan factual
Those injuries are so hard to watch. Never gets easier.
I thought Caron was gonna win WSM this year, was really upset to see what happened to him. I hope he makes a full recovery and comes back stronger then ever
I have to disagree about the stones, I think stones are great events, perfect for strongman. I think squats are kind of a weird event for strongman. It's nothing like powerlifting, lifting a rock is much harder than weights. A lot of things that make you strong feel awkward as you do them. If you only train certain muscle groups, it should be not shocker if it feels awkward.
I started wearing some camo print clothes to the gym so I can sneak up on the weights. That way they get confused when I start lifting them so I can maximise my gains.
Wouldn't say no one expected JF... lots of people fully expected him to dominate the squat.
if you didn’t expect JF to come out and win, you aren’t aware of him or Martins at all. Martins went to Canada and trained with JF and they were shifting huge numbers. Strongman youtubers are awesomely entertaining
A lot of the injuries are people not taking time off to recover. I think there's a big lesson to be learned from Martins. He had an injury, really took the time to repair all his nagging injuries before returning. These guys doing multiple big events a year constantly injured isn't helping their bodies as these weights go through the ceiling.
Awesome video! For someone who is passionate about strength training but doesn't know a lot about the top strongman athletes, your commentary was much appreciated.
This format is awesome!
Don’t forget, this was done on a duffalo bar. Much more taxing on your core than a normal straight bar.
@@Aaron-ec8uc the bar is harder to stabilize, not quite as hard as an SSB or anything like that, but the bar wants to rock forwards and backwards on you once you stack enough weight on it. Great movement
Every time I see Martins's 3rd dumbbell rep, I think it's more legitimate. Every box ticked.
JF said in the interview afterwards he was ready to go over 1000lbs that day.
Not sure I agree with your opinions on the stone. I know when they first introduced it Shaw went out and trained with it, but then he didn’t do too great. Meanwhile Kiels got it 3 times (then 5 the year after), in one of my all time favourite strength moments to watch.
But that’s just my opinion. I just absolutely love stone to shoulder events.
Thanks for the good video anyway!
It's a real shame Kieliczkowski couldn't compete this year. I mean a lot of those trials were his speciality, stone to shoulder, log press, dumbell press, frame carry. He dominated in all of those in the past.
And no deadlift.
That's too bad, but avoiding injury is a legitimate skill like strength. Yes some guys get unlucky but we need to start giving credit to guys who put in the hours into injury prevention
“Average gym dude trying to kill some time and avoid his family” hahaha 😂🤣😭You got a new sub just for that line alone
Absolutely understand when you don't find it good for the value of an event when many guys zero...
On the other hand I like that nimbus of "heaviest show in the world" which means to me that even the strongest can (and will!) fail.
But maybe there should be some fine tuning...
Health of the athletes is another important factor because it's not that they are paid millions for setting their bodies on the line!
It is so interesting seeing Licis and Novikov be such powerhouses at their size since mass and height usually is so dominant. Their technique/precision is a pleasure to watch. Martins is a big favorite of mine and Novikov is hard not to be a fan of
Great explanation of the additional weight being lifted by suits/wraps
I worked the warmup room and there was a good 30-40 minutes between JF's last warmup squat and his opener. The man was a monster lifter. So sad to see him get injured.
i could kind of see over the wall into the warmup room but couldnt see a lot of it too...what did the guys do to stay warm for an hour between Jfs injury and when the show started again?
@@highviewbarbell great question, I'm not sure. I was busy working with the crew to handle JF's injury, so i'm not entirely sure. I think some of them went in the back to press the log a couple times.
@@alexmilburn4261 hey good on you for helping with that! that brings me to another question then, why was it that they dismantled the entire platform to get to him? just for safety so he didnt have to move at all and you could roll the stretcher up right alongside?
@@highviewbarbell you are correct
Fun event to watch. I will probably go some time since I did Grad School in Columbus. I really like how they just stream it for everyone as opposed to world's doing the insane delay for no reason. I also happened to be watching the record breakers when Chloe Brennan did that Dinnie stone lift. Crazy stuff!
Thanks. That was a really enjoyable recap.
Funny to hear you say it'll be interesting if it becomes a regular event for the next 6-8 years because the word around the water cooler is that it will be more heavily featured. Supposedly they attempt to be somewhat cyclical with what events are the focus of the time frame. Probably just what people want to watch the most at the time but it works.
Two questions Alex. How to prevent patella tendon tears? Can I train farmers every day? I can load my wheelbarrow heavy and just go.
If feel like Jeff Caron been underrated for so long. I'm glad people are starting to finally notice, over the few couple years or so, whether his ever "Won" the World's Strongest Man before or not that guy has been in at least top 5 in world for years now. Even though his Canadian, obviously it's joke, the guy has the biggest traps I've even on somebody. I know he blows out the competition in Canada and has been the strongest guy there since I can recall. The dude is absolute monster and I hope he gets a title before he retires. If not I think he'll go down as one of the strongest ever that never won worlds strongest man.
standardizing some events is pretty good. having differences is good too. it's nice to see a squat or deadlift that makes sense, but it also is fun to watch outlandish shit which is pretty much the base of strongman displays. I don't wanna see the sport go too much towards just who's the biggest powerlifter, but every now and then it's a good reference point to see what they are lifting on the same equipment. When ya deadlift 3x bodyweight and still are way under what the opener is in strongman it puts perspective on how absolutely strong these dudes are, but then let's get back to watching them race with a few hundred pounds in each hand.
Some people have absolutely slapped knee wraps on and immediately gotten a huge benefit. I mean I didn't. I guess most didn't. But it absolutely can happen. I mean I've seen it happen. But I do get your point and the suits (obviously) are so much harder to master (which is why probably none of them had very tight suits). Will strongman take over the squat? I don't know. Imo, they haven't taken over the deadlift, either. Not truly. But especially for the squat, the suits, wraps, different bar and pads in a monolift make it quite a different beast. Drop the suit and wraps and have one of them outlift Ray, then we talk.
i think if every strongman was made to do powerlifting specific training for a year then so many records would be broken as these guys really know how to train strength in multiple feats. imagine they put there full atention just into three lifts as these guys are fucking monsters.
The funny thing about Novikov with dumbell is he's said he doesn't train it as much as other events, because he's naturally talented at it and doesn't really need to improve to win the event.
I was scared for Caron when I saw that happen. Glad he’s recovering
Was an awesome show this year as far as testing strength goes. Sad Mateusz couldn't make it though. Poor guy just can't stay healthy. Also LOVED seeing the women bust out some records. And any time I see Andrea is a good day, she's gorgeous AND strong
I wonder if Mateusz has pushed it too hard too early in his career. He's been injured a lot and looks so freaky, wonder if he's pushing the envelope a lot during his offseasons in addition to his competition preps.
For the next ASC, Rogue needs to incorporate the MG-3 Multi Grip Bar for max weight. Put it between the Double T Squat and Elephant Bar Deadlift.
I actually have a partial tear in my left patellar tendon, this occurred without use of PED’s I theorize from intense high volume training when I was running PL ai
It’s called strongman for a reason- I like that there was stuff taking brute strength and less technical expertise like stone to shoulder and frame carry and wheel of pain
Great recap and commentary.
JF has never been the most consistent, and has some obvious weak events. But his static strength is just mind boggling. These effortless squats, how effortless he made it look when he set the hummer tire deadlift record at the shaw event. He's just brutally powerful.
You should cover more strongman contests, it’s fun to listen to
“Is strongman taking over the squat?” - nope!
It was basically an equipped squat (suit + generous wraps), with pads on the sides which make it easier (almost like a box squat), and with a bar that is super easy on the shoulders, since these guys are all stiff af… so no, the squat remains in the domain of people who actually squat… (and yes, that would be us, the “lazy powerlifters” who “sneak into some federations” to “break some records”).
Apart that, love your channel 💪🏻
Lol I'm inclined to agree
I agree. Bouncing off those pads is like having a spotter help you get the weight up.
@@whitebelt2905 it's a huge risk though. I've seen bounces at World's that made a rep look like 2 reps of effort. The pads seemed more forgiving than WSM's squat setup, but the ones who trained that way are the ones who got the most out of the bounce, like Rob and Martins. As far as I know, JF has trained very minimally on the pad setup and is just stupid strong on the squat. Every training clip is him walking it out and squatting without pads.
Do you think taking away assistance equipment like the wraps that can potentially detract from the building/strengthening of connective tissues like tendons, could contribute to less injuries to those tissues?
The wobble they get at the bottom from hitting those pillows with the weight looks so scary, my spine almost herniated from just the thought... :O
I don't think I would count Shaw out as easily as you did. I think him trying to build a business outside for strongmen is in his way, but the dude came so close to winning it last year and especially with how much luck on the injure roulette determines the outcome, he could easily be on the top step of any event still
Love strongman. Greatest sport of all time!
I’ve always appreciated promoters putting on shows where it’s simple in events and therefore easy to train for which results in a lack of drama. On the amateur level whenever there’s an odd stone or an odd farmers cylinder handle or a super thick yoke welded by Harold the farmer or whatever the guys that train at that gym do exceptional at those events while the guys that didn’t have access usually struggle. Just a specificity thing. Not sure how I feel about the organizations sponsoring products that are at the national contests. They always say the strongest person should win (direct quote from one of the presidents) yet if you want to be as competitive as possible you have to drop 10-20k in equipment every year or find a gym willing to do that or travel every weekend of your life. I see both sides. Capitalism is the best way to push the sport further and it’s cool to see companies coming up with new implements or refining implements. The double sided dildo effect.
I can see both sides of it, but tend to lean towards keeping the oddball events.
I don't agree with the video in that those events shouldn't be part of Strongman. It is Strongman, not Power Lifting. And I don't agree that in order to grow the sport it needs to be more like Power Lifting.
I do believe more effort should be made by the promoters to allow competitors to train on equipment (at least new equipment) prior to shows. Giants Live does allows it for anyone who stops by their warehouse. It can be done. Just offering that opportunity would help solve some of this debate.
We saw last year when because of Covid and a condensed schedule people were complaining about every show having basically the same events. Strongman would get boring if that were always the case.
Anyway, just my opinion.
Considering most of the top ten single ply guys compete in tested federations I would hope at least one strongman would get close to being in the top ten.
to be fair to martins about the stone, if you look at this vlogs, the amount of time he dedicated to mastering the shouldering part and handling arkward objects is quite massive, so I was not surprise about him getting the event, plus he's also a world record caliber for stone.
Imma be real with you burley man I think wieghtlifters are the best at squating
3:55 you said NAPPA wrong from DBZ 🤣🤣🤣🤣 also...Caron looks like he can do 1k +
It was Odds natural stone, no doubt Martins was familiar, It was quite set up for Martins win 🤔
I bought a squat suit and worked up to what was a 50lb pr and it buried me. Anyone thinking they can just throw on a suit one day and add 200lb to their squat is overly optimistic to say the least
Absolutely. Yes it helps in the long run but makes you lift differently. Like when Benni had the raw record deadlift at 460kg but couldn't move 500kg fully equipped more than 5 inches off the floor, it's all about what you train.
That double quad tear make me winge
I would have loved to see how far zydrunas could have gone with a max squat if he was pressed. Back in 2001 he squated 410kg at the IPF world championships and he became a lot steonger since that meet. He did 400kg×5 in training and he always did better in comp
Pretty much all strongmen squat in training, but since it's almost unheard of to have a max squat in a competition none of the competitors have experience peaking the squat while also peaking for strongman events. Considering that most of the guys had virtually no experience squatting with properly wrapped knees, a monolift or that type of bar, I'd say the numbers were surprisingly high. I would love to see more unequipped squatting in the future, as long as the pads stay. The main reason I can't stand powerlifting is the argument about hitting depth in the squat, which the pads completely took out.
Also, there's a fundraiser set up by a friend of JF Caron's for his recovery on gofundme. I'm sure any donations are appreciated, and go to help a fantastic strength athlete come back from injury.
Just wondering why someone in Canada would need a gofundme for surgery. Or is it for the recovery process after surgery with all the bits and bobs that aren't covered by insurance?
Not bashing it, again, just wondering.
@@MellonVegan what the devil? Canada makes you pay even though it has socialized healthcare? Sounds about Canada.
@@MellonVegan From what I heard, the surgery was done in the US and it was paid for by the Arnold's. The gofundme is more for assisting with the long recovery period.
I feel so bad for Caron. The man could be finished at top level
looks better than it did originally. But his shoulders though big, are not up to par str wise :S
The fact that eddie coan squatted more in crappier equipment and weighing almost half than these guys really makes him a legend
Really impressed with JFs squat. I choked on a sandwich the first time I watched that. Just hope he recovers from that injury
Grip events should be Hercules Hold then either lighter/faster/longer frame carries
I disagree with what you say about how much these guys are getting from wraps. The first time I maxed out with wraps, which was only the 2nd time I ever used them, I added 9% to my squat.
JF carron squat was amazing. Very entertaining
Could you do a video on what makes Tom Stoltman so good and if you had to pick him vs Martins :)
3:11 Martins lost some prep time wrenching his back on monolift squat training for this event, came back like fire though!
JF did those weights raw. Check out his IG and youtube vidoes with martins
Awsome break down
18:21 i would say Mateusz Kieliszkowski is one of the best, if not the best stone laoder in the world
Nova got that hip swing
Great video !
Hey Alex, I’ve been trying to get some advice on using your Strongman Template. I’ve tried the FB group. And I’ve been trying to figure it out on my own but not satisfied with my own programming.
How would you add/alternate variations and different accessories in the “Strongman Template”? Thanks!
7:00 Caron also had better depth than a lot of equipped powerlifters usually do.
I agree with everything you said Alex, but given how heavy the sport has gotten, and given that these guys are trying to make a living at doing this, don't you think that the top guys are competing way too often and that is why so many devastating injuries are occurring ? ( ie. JF Caron).
they seem to have too many events bunched up. There's Britains Strongest Man, ASC, Europes and Worlds all within 4 months of eachother which is too much.
Honestly very hard to say Caron would squat 1050 in a single ply meet without that bounce of the boxes. He seems like he really nails the technique of using that unique setup of the boxes at the bottom effectively. Mind-blowingly impressive squat nonetheless
They're foam boxes. 1k isn't bouncing off them
@@AlexanderBromley Good to know, seemed like it was with some lifters coming off them unevenly
Great Video
This is dumb question but could they wear something like gymnastics grips (or something functionally similar) so that they can protect their hands and grip is still rewarded
Corone should defiantly try for squat record
strongman athletes are the strongest people on earth in my humble opinion.
Was at Britain strongest man arena show the week before and Tom Stoltman won a 5 event comp by 12 points with 53.5 points out of 55 available. Was really hard to watch this showing of him. He wasn't himself at Arnold's. Didn't look right at all. Made up for Luke though.
I think it was more to do with the events, he is right up there for many events as the best in the world, but he has a lot of weaknesses where he gets beaten by a lot of people, and this show showed that.
I think the commentators nailed it, when things don't go his way he kind of gives up. Like the stone at the end, there's no way I buy Tom stoltman can't even break inertia on that stone. Either he was injured, or he thought "fuck it, whats the point?"
@@dessertstorm7476 he’s always struggled with that and maybe always will do. It’s certainly strongly influenced by his autism. Watching his training videos and how he was trying to get over the mental aspect of the Hercules hold, because his brain just switches off and he gives up before he’s at his limit. Hopefully he can work through it more in the future.
Weightlifters squat more. Bodybuilders bench more. Strongmans deadlift more. Rip powerlifting.
the squat setup looks very safe.
Caron did 1000lb without suit and knee strap non official at is stongman gym 🏋️♂️ sadly he will never be a strongman again
idk why everyone is SO SURPRISED that JF killed the squat.....the dude is one of the best deadlift/squat guys on the planet. If he didn't have a ton of other events to train for, I'll bet my house that he can squat at least 1050.
So martins gets judged by odd and then wins it on odd’s implement? Curious…
I'm confused by the statement at 3:50
I think everyone expected it, Caron as always been an absolute monster at both squat and deads, probably what hes best known for to be honest.
I was talking about the bar speed. But either way.... how many times have you seen Caron max a squat?
@@AlexanderBromley At both shaw classic 2021 and wsm 2020 the dude proved he is easily one of the top squatters within the strongman scene. I realize 11 reps at 700 pounds vs a one rep max is a different situation, but being surprised that JF absolutely murders any squat seems incredibly odd.
Murder any squat. Oh yeah, of course. What was i thinking. Instead of objectively comparing what 900lb squats have looked like throughout 5 decades of strength sports, I should've known he "would murder any squat". Noobs, jfc
@@AlexanderBromley If an experienced strongman like JF comes into a first squat at over 900 pound, I don't get how anyone is surprised he makes it look easy. It's an amazing lift, absolutely impressive. But given who it doing it, surprising really isn't a word that seems right in that context.
If your statement was your weren't expecting a 900+ squat to look so easy, I guess I misunderstood. But him doing the lift the way he did really shouldn't surprise anyone who's been following strongman for the last couple years.
Not sure why you said JF came out of nowhere?
Anyone that follows the sport knows JF is an insane squatter he was hitting insane training numbers leading up to the Arnold’s
id rather see the frame be 1000lbs but have straps allowed, I think that would even out and be just as cool if not moreso
i think most of them can pick 1000lb from the height of frame handles so should be doable
Whats that blood pressure med that people always tear muscles on again? Jf was probably on that shit
Strongman competitors still want that WSM title its a massive title is just a pity the organization cant get their shit together and promote the show properly!
Everyone who follows strongman fully expected Caron to win the squat easily. The real question was if we were going to see him lift 1000 or more.
If strongman only had to focus on deadlines, squats and bench you could guarantee the current records would be way higher
Cambered bar, no walk out so I still think they are shy of the best Powerlifters of recent years. The lifts were impressive though.
the arnold lapped wsm in so many ways
Looked like and empty bar on a smith machine, he did those lifts with more or less zero lean forward, it’s the weirdest form I’ve seen for such a big tall fella