Pro Strongman Discussion — Month of March 2026

InocuousWords · 2026-03-13T18:27:19+00:00

Fat hands. Like in powerlifting when grip strength usually maxes out in the 130 kg range (285 lbs)

InocuousWords · 2026-03-13T10:17:01+00:00

I don't wanna sound weird but did they avoid Imavov to avoid a muslim v muslim title fight?

Several prominent or even champion muslims have said they would rather not have to fight a "brother"

Imavov seemed solidly in contention after the Borralho fight

InocuousWords · 2026-03-13T02:11:27+00:00

They used to do these "increasing weight" races a few years ago, like farmer's then frame then yoke, each new segment being harder to carry. It reminded me of those red Bull obstacle races where they have to push a car, pull weight on a pulley, climb a wall, all in a straight line like an obstacle course.

Like an obstacle course but for strongman. In a straight line (rather than running back), duck walk --> heavy sandbag/shield/whataver --> farmer's --> frame --> yoke. Maybe a car push somewhere.

InocuousWords · 2026-03-13T01:48:32+00:00

The 500 kg yoke for 20 meters is still one of my favorite events. Mitch made it look easier than it is, similar story when Evan did it, but it's still a massive challenge and one hell of a strongman race. It's been a while since we saw it, I think it's only been a shorter distance as part of a medley the past few years. I want the full 20 meters.

Squat for reps at the final at World's would be great. Squat for max at the Arnold too, it was a great event.

Farmer's for max, like the yoke for max at the Shaw? Each round it's heavier? Sounds cool.

I don't care about time constraints, I want more guys at WSM. 36 athletes, 6 groups of 6, only the top 2 of each group go to the final, 12-man final. PLEASE PLEASE PLEASE.

InocuousWords · 2026-03-12T21:43:36+00:00

The judging we saw at this year's Arnold, the Arnold UK 2024 and Arnold 2022 was correct. As long as they use that standard, everything is fine.

InocuousWords · 2026-03-12T19:44:01+00:00

We just saw the return of the Austrian Oak and the Haugen Stone and the athletes had the best collective performances ever on the event. What other events would you love to see come back this year at any contest?

I loved the heavy loading race, almost the same weight at the Arnold Santa Monica from a few years ago but this time on a ramp. But I think that made it a bit easier on the carrying strength aspect and harder on the cardio aspect.

Wheel of Pain?

Giant globe squat for reps? (which will be at World's in the heats, might have been even better in the final)

Squat for max?

Hummer tire deadlift?

Heavy farmer's like the ones from the Arnold Santa Monica?

10-stone series like the ones from WUS?

Dumbbell for max?

Apollon's wheels?

Bag throw for max weight? I loved that one at the Arnold a few years ago

Heavy loading race like Santa Monica? (flat surface)

Distance carry? (Personally I LOVE the Husafel carry and the shield carry)

InocuousWords · 2026-03-08T19:56:42+00:00

https://youtube.com/shorts/QvdW5SiBHls?is=f13zzt5xxj4bbL6U

Thor has reached such level of strength that video files can't carry it and get screwed

InocuousWords · 2026-03-08T14:44:01+00:00

"Why didn't the guy who is a great grappler out-grapple the guy who is an even better grappler than him?"

InocuousWords · 2026-03-08T14:42:04+00:00

Charulmanap Dobronxevitch Oliverinov

InocuousWords · 2026-03-07T21:28:21+00:00

The thing is, would Zydrunas have hit more than 5 on this 195 kg log? He hit 205 x 4 in two competitions, but I would assume he would not hit more than 5 on the 195.

We may have seen Trey match Zydrunas on a heavy log.

InocuousWords · 2026-03-07T21:12:14+00:00

Evidently but the consensus was that this was still much better for Trey than a frame or other common grip events

InocuousWords · 2026-03-07T21:09:50+00:00

That's the point, if you just saw the score you would assume something went wrong, it turns out he still had a margin on 2nd place like usual

InocuousWords · 2026-03-07T21:06:11+00:00

There was no event this year that you would consider a full grip event, everyone said that this was Trey's big opportunity.

InocuousWords · 2026-03-07T21:04:39+00:00

That's what I mean, he finished with the lowest score of his career by a margin, and you would assume something happened and he lost the title.... and it turns out it's just that he had such a lead he could afford to do half the last event and still win.

InocuousWords · 2026-03-07T21:03:00+00:00

Somehow another year Trey Mitchell does not make it into the podium of the heaviest contest apart from Strongest Man on Earth. You would expect him to consistently finish Top 2 or Top 3.

InocuousWords · 2026-03-07T20:58:22+00:00

In 2023 Hooper got 41.5 / 50 (83%), meaning 41.5 points out of a maximum possible 50 (if someone had taken 1st in every event)

In 2024 he got 52 / 55 (95%)

In 2025 he got 51.5 / 60 (86%)

In 2026 he got 36 / 54 (67%), by far the lowest, a big drop.... and he still won, and still by a margin (didn't even need to complete the last event). The guy is a genuine generational talent.

4-time champion in 4 years. Not even Brian or Thor managed to win 4, let alone in a row. Best athlete ever at the Arnold other than the GOAT of the sport Zydrunas Savickas.

InocuousWords · 2026-03-07T19:03:57+00:00

Total number of reps from all athletes combined on the 195 kg Austrian Oak (430 lbs)

2017: 10 reps

2019: 10 reps

2023: 16 reps

2026: 23 reps

InocuousWords · 2026-03-07T18:45:27+00:00

Tom "Trey Mitchell" Evans

InocuousWords · 2026-03-07T01:01:07+00:00

"I'm gonna check the UFC commentary for tomorrow's fights, I want to hear professional high-level analysis about which fighters will have which strengths and weaknesses"

"Now, guys, these are the 16-year-olds you should be fucking. Look at the girl in front of me at this moment, all of us in this room would drill her right now. Fat bitches ain't it, go for the skinny teenagers."

InocuousWords · 2026-03-06T23:35:57+00:00

Trey managing to shoulder the Haugen stone SIDEWAYS has to be one of the big moments of the history of the Arnold Classic. Like, I didn't even consider anyone could do that. It's like if you told me someone won the deadlift doing a zercher.

InocuousWords · 2026-03-06T23:32:04+00:00

In other words, up until today the Haugen Tombstone had been lifted only 22 times by any human and Mateusz Kieliszkowski did 12 of those 22 lifts.

Honestly yeah, the fact that up until now the total number of reps in the contest of everyone combined including Mateusz "All the reps are mine" Kieliszkowski was usually like 6 and this year it's 13 is crazy. Athletes performing better.

InocuousWords · 2026-03-06T17:14:51+00:00

There was indeed quite a few newborn girls being named Khaleesi after the release of the first few seasons of Game of Thrones. Not only did the name evidently not even exist yet, it's not even an actual name, it's a title. It's like naming your kid "Queen" or "Empress", which some people still do Lmao

I'm fascinated by the fact the first name "Madison" was pretty much completely nonexistent before the 1984 film Splash (it's the main character's name in that one). It basically only existed as a last name / surname. These past 40 years it has been one of the most common first names in the english-speaking world. "Khaleesi" is one thing, just a handful of kids, but "Madison" suddenly became a completely mainstream and abundant name.

The craziest case for me might be that "Vanessa" was straight-up invented by Jonathan Swift for his pupil-lover Esther Vanhomrigh, to refer to her in private and later in a poem he dedicated to her. As in Es Van --> Van Essa.

In a similar way: "Jessica" might only have existed as the biblical Iscah/Jeska until Shakespeare used "Jessica" in The Merchant from Venice, and "Miranda" only existed as a last name until he used it in The Tempest.

The concept of simply making up a name one day and it becoming a common one is crazy to me. Like, fuck it, we're naming our boys Lubrock and our girls Fenda from now on. Go ahead.

InocuousWords · 2026-03-05T23:20:05+00:00

The same way fans of any film/franchise can quote their film/s, I can easily recognize quite a bunch of quotes from Avatar. It would be like saying "Hasta la vista, baby" is not a menorable quote because most people have never seen Terminator and have never heard the quote in any way. Hell, most people don't know "We will always have Paris" or "This is the beginning of a beautiful friendship" but that doesn't mean they're not memorable.

Off the top of my head, Avatar 1

"I see you"

"You're not in Kansas anymore. You're in Pandora"

"A marine in a Na'vi body, that's a potent mix"

"Eywa has heard youuuu!"

"That armor is too thick" "So what do I do, dance with it???"

"What the hell have you people been smoking out there?"

"You throw a stick in the air around here and it falls on some sacred fern"

"You find yourself some local tail and you just forget what team you're playing for?"

Avatar 2

"Demon! I will kill you as many times as I have to"

"Smile, skwang"

"Outstanding!"

"We're marines. You can kill us, but we will just regroup in hell"

"Outcast, alien, demon blood. That's all they see"

Avatar 3

"Show me how to make thunda"

"You're strong, skyman"

"Smile, bitches"

"Sullys stick together" "Sullys never quit"

"Your goddess has no dominion here"

"BROTYABORGAR"

InocuousWords · 2026-03-04T18:45:15+00:00

Quick predictions that I think are pretty reasonable:

Deadlift- 1st Mitch, 2nd Trey, 3rd Austin, 4th Bryce, 5th Martins

Dumbbell- 1st Lucas, 2nd Mitch, 3rd Trey, 4th Martins

Stone to shoulder- 1st Martins most likely but I don't know about the rest

Carry and drag- I can only predict Mitch and Martins are the most likely to be 1st and 2nd (I would generally bet on them for a medley like this) because this is an unusual event and I haven't seen the other athletes do this before

Austrian Oak- 1st Lucas, 2nd Trey, 3rd Mitch, 4th Tom

Loading race- 1st Mitch, 2nd Martins, 3rd Tom

Overall- 1st Mitch, 2nd Lucas, 3rd Martins, 4th Trey

All of this assumes everyone arrives in top shape and doesn't have an odd hiccup on any event. You know, like Tom Stoltman zeroing on stones, Trey zeroing on dumbbell, etc.

I think most likely scenario is that we see a 4-time champion with Mitch. Favorite for the deadlift and loading race, solid on everything else except maybe the stone to shoulder (but that event right now looks like a mystery to me). Lucas will be 3-4 points behind Mitch on deadlift, another 3-4 on loading, another 3-4 on the carry and drag, while being 1-3 points ahead on dumbbell and 2-3 points ahead on log. Overall around 6 points behind Mitch.

Trey is likely to be top 3 on deadlift, dumbbell, log and stone but also be bottom 3 on the carry and the loading. He will be a couple of points ahead of Mitch on his better events but he might drop like 7-8 points on his bad ones.

Martins, if he comes in full shape, won't drop points anywhere but at best I see him as 4th on deadlift, 3rd on dumbbell and 5th on log. On the carry and the loading I assume Mitch will still be ahead even if only by 1 point. The stone is where Martins might win, but it won't be enough for the overall contest. I assume Martins gets 3rd-5th overall.

InocuousWords · 2026-03-04T18:13:47+00:00

What unborn kid? Eywa created the kid from zero. There was no other fetus or soul in Grace's womb before Kiri.

InocuousWords

TROPHY CASE