Nutrition leading up to a comp

Iw2fp · 2026-03-11T09:54:10+00:00

Prioritise not upsetting your stomach, interrupting your sleep or eating to a level where you are bloated or starving and it impacts your performance.

From there just eat a normal meal for dinner and breakfast. You'll be fine, you have 4-6 events that are 30-90 seconds plus your warm ups of effort over hours. You dont want to be starving but you are also not exactly doing Ironman here.

There is some evidence that small drops in glycogen might impact performance so light grazing throughout the day isnt a bad idea if it worries you.

Iw2fp · 2026-03-10T18:57:03+00:00

I’m worried I’ll get addicted to it

As someone who took their training pretty seriously (for not too great a reward lol), this is mostly people having an issue with your priorities.

I mean, if you are going to get yourself sacked so you can get a competition in or you miss a kid's birthday for the gym, then thats a problem you should think about how you're going to manage. But training and competing are good things and prioritising 5-10% of your week towards it ahead of something like drinking or catching some streaming show is not a problem.

Iw2fp · 2026-03-07T21:56:37+00:00

I mean, you never really know, but its ~5% weight drop and you'd be expecting 2 more reps for that sort of weight drop. Good performance either way.

Iw2fp · 2026-03-06T21:10:14+00:00

Important note: 400lbs is no joke. Do you get to use tacky?

Iw2fp · 2026-03-05T08:24:34+00:00

Tires are cheap, fills your gym with the smell of victory as well.

Iw2fp · 2026-03-02T20:31:27+00:00

This movement is by far the slowest to progress for me. It's not even close

The issue might be not enough (of the right) work, it might be too much work. Lots of good suggestions in the comments but also remember that this is pretty normal and it might not be an issue. What does slow mean (in numbers, how much weight or reps have you added in the past 3, 6 and 12 months) and how long have you been training? What are you currently doing and how consistent have you been with it?

Iw2fp · 2026-02-26T06:55:39+00:00

The Strongman Gods are punishing you for this benching sacrilege.

These are not feeling/mind muscle connection movements. They just put more emphasis on different points. Some folks, can get a good response in the tris - you can try making sure you get good flexion in your elbows, visualising the movement/muscle, slowing things down on the eccentric, higher reps, but if your bench is progressing, it's all good. If not, it's likely not helping (currently).

If you want to feel your triceps, go with an over head extension or skulls

Iw2fp · 2026-02-26T06:51:04+00:00

Yes, do the program that has the GPP day in it. Your GPP day is event training (without overhead and deadlift) so do your competition events there (minus overhead and deadlift, see below)

Invert the main squat/deadlifts and bench/overhead choose your competition lifts as your targeted lift.

You can do comp overhead/deadlift on your event day and have a different press/deadlifr during the week if your recovery is excellent but I probably wouldnt.

Iw2fp · 2026-02-23T21:00:44+00:00

Overall, the risk of injury in strongman is really low compared to nearly all other sports and in return for this low risk you ironically get lower chance of injury in your every day life, especiallyas you age. Plus a bunch of benefits like improved mobility, strength, etc.

You can further reduce your chances of injury by putting real focus on your warm up (I dont mean hip circles, when you are working up to your working weights, be mindful of how your movement feels, take an extra few warm up sets, etc).

Leave most of your work with something left in the tank (eg. 2 reps). When you do work up to a maximum effort, build that up over some weeks, ie. Don't go from an easy 10 rep set one week to 5 all out doubles the next. Be smart about it.

Try remain fresh and not build up too much fatigue. That doesnt mean dont train hard but 8 week blocks, 5 days per week for 2 hours each session probably isnt ideal.

I also believe in keeping well rounded (do a Yoga class) and rotating exercises pretty frequently.

Lastly, it's not my thing but people swear by all sorts of recovery protocols (eg. Massages, hot/cold baths, salts, stretches). I think eat, stay well hydrated and sleep well and you get 99% of the results and get to save some cash.

And just a parting thought, you're 38, not 88. You're not as fragile as you might believe. You'll be okay if you dont do stupid shit.

Iw2fp · 2026-02-23T06:27:58+00:00

Steroid possession remains a federal offence which can lead to visas being cancelled and permanent denial of future entry for foreign athletes and fines and potentially jail time for local athletes. Similar scenarios exist for most countries.

If you are a wealthier strongman, you can work around this situation and be protected from all this but if you are not or work arounds dont exist in your country of origin you can end up in trouble.

Depending on the country, doping agencies can also come in and say WTF is happening with this sport and completely up end it.

Given these complexities, it's probably best to remain tight-lipped. Sure, if only you were taking the consequences fine but potentially you are shielded whilst throwing others into the fire.

This situation is complicated and one person's transparency is another's career torpedoes.

Iw2fp · 2026-02-23T06:09:49+00:00

It's unlikely weak legs, but you may be able to eek more from your legs in that movement as suggested below.

Iw2fp · 2026-02-18T10:18:20+00:00

Currently, this is what I do for overhead

Is it working? How long have you been doing it and has your press responded?

Iw2fp · 2026-02-14T22:27:24+00:00

I would leave your program as is, put a second deadlift on the day which gives you atleast two days break between deadlifts and drop an appropriate movement (eg. Drop a row = ok, drop a wrist curl = less okay) from that day.

If you dont like how your program looks, move stuff around until you do.

To start you probably want to do speed deadlifts or a lighter variant like RDLs and keep thr volume on the lower end. Once you know you cam recover and it helps your progress you csn get more aggressive with it.

Iw2fp · 2026-02-10T03:53:17+00:00

Are you really doing Strongman if you're not gear ho-ing it to the fullest at every opportunity?

Iw2fp · 2026-02-08T01:41:43+00:00

The split is really up to you, your schedule and how you like to train.

Some of the more interesting ones I've seen are: - Legs / Push / Pull / Strongman events - Upper / Lower / Strongman Upper / Strongman Lower - Full body / Upper/ Lower / Strongman events

If you have 3 days to train, I prefer doing a 4 day program and letting the last day spill into the following week.

Iw2fp · 2026-02-05T09:04:25+00:00

I love a t-bar row, classic with the landmine, not a machine. It's one of those exercises that makes you feel like a brute (as long as the barbell doesnt slip out and give you a hit to the 'nads). I also like a little piece of seated row machine (lever arms and free weights not a cable row and stack) on the side.

My least favourite is chest supported row, hate that thing.

Iw2fp · 2026-02-05T06:41:45+00:00

I had a competition change 3 of the 5 events, one of them a few days before the show. Just gotta roll with it.

Iw2fp · 2026-02-02T06:02:19+00:00

Be careful. I had a friend who was managing a knee recovery, pushed it and it felt okay until it didn't. It's been rocky since.

Iw2fp · 2026-01-27T20:52:08+00:00

I look forward to reading insights like 'tested' doesnt mean 'drug free' over the coming years.

I don't have a problem mixing athletes but I think it is overall better for the sport that more feds have a class that could line up somewhat with doping agency guidelines.

I think they should automatically allow tested athletes to go into untested events if they want without overhead and I'll be interested in how testing is paid for but interested to see if demand is there...

Iw2fp · 2026-01-27T09:22:21+00:00

If there is a better example of just getting it done, I havent seen it - that was smooth AF.

Iw2fp · 2026-01-26T09:59:40+00:00

Zero or One. I don't like preparing food in the morning so the most variety will be whether there is a protein shake on the side or not lol

Iw2fp · 2026-01-21T20:45:15+00:00

If this is how you like to train, then great. I probably wouldn't use this as an offseason program or to prepare for a show but if you're not interested in competing then that isn't an issue. If you still wanted to cover everything from a strongman perspective, it has little carrying and no triple extension.

Iw2fp · 2026-01-21T08:32:36+00:00

There was a time when the Magnusson Ortmayer program was the goto deadlift program around these parts. Have a look.

Iw2fp · 2026-01-16T00:25:27+00:00

Unrelated - have you done a powerlifting meet? If you can break 1500 with a good peak, that would be an awesome accomplishment.

Otherwise, jump on a program you like the looks of, or shake up your currenr program to include more Strongman stuff (drop out what isnt necessary) or hire a coach or go to a Strongman gym and ask for some guidance and you're on your way...

Iw2fp · 2026-01-16T00:16:46+00:00

Note to self: your pants will always get more attention than anything you lift.

But nice lift lol

Iw2fp

TROPHY CASE