The Freedom of Strongman

People ask me what I do professionally I have answered, “I am a powerlifter,” or a fighter or a highland games athlete or a football player or a grappler or a strongman. I can even say a professional and old time strongman when I’m answering the question about what I do and why am I big and strong, but what I’ve come to tell people and the word I like best in defining myself is “strongman,” because I believe that term implies freedom.

I think if you train strongman and especially if you train it in the way and the style that I like to do which is a combination of all the things that I’ve talked about.  This includes lifting, throwing, odd object movements, grappling movements, conditioning, power, show feats and competitive feats and any type of real world strength you can think of. You build real strength that you can use in every situation so when you say you’re strong, you’re not joking, you’re not kidding and you’re not pseudo-strong.

You have the freedom to any type of strength that you want to train any way that you want.  If you look at the strongman that are out there you see amazing different types of strength. Some of them are phenomenal at pressing yet they’re still pretty good at everything. Others are good at bending but again still pretty good at everything.  Other strength athletes are good at stone pressing, but again good at everything.  Some of my friends are even great bodyweight guys, yet are still pretty good at everything else inclusive of bending steel, doing strongman feats, stone lifting – you name it.  In terming yourself as “strongman,” you need to have the overall strength to really carry the title.  Seriously – don’t say you’re strong if you’re not strong.

With that being said you can still call yourself a strongman even if you can’t deadlift 1,000 pounds.  Here’s why:  There are different types of strength and many, many differnet styles. Build real strength to earn the term, but realize there’s freedom in it that’s not possible in almost any other way.  You’re not locked into any other vein. In fact I’ve pulled from every other vein of strength to make myself better, to make myself stronger and carry that title.  And take the “man” part seriously even if you’re a woman.  In one of my favorite John Wayne movies he says, “To be a gentleman you have to be a man first, then you can be gentle.”

I think in being a man – having integrity, having personal power, personal magnetism, a purpose, a real direction in life, that physical and then mental and spiritual strength that you build form the training to be a strongman flows into it. It builds you both freedom to do what you want in life as well as the power to carry through and be a real person as well as a real man.  Take that freedom and run.  Pull from every vein of strength, be as strong as anyone in anyway you can, find your specialty and be incredibly strong.  Do what you want but take your freedom seriously and get truly strong in all aspects.

Pick up your copy of “I Will Be Iron,” and begin applying training principals to gain your greatest strength.