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Strength athletics is the collection of strength sports which measure physical strength, based on both: non-standard and historical implements as seen in
Strongman Strongman is a competitive strength sport which tests athletes' physical strength and endurance through a variety of heavy lifts and events. Strongman competitions are known for their intensity, pushing athletes to their physical and mental limit ...
and Highland games, and standardized and calibrated equipment as seen in
Powerlifting Powerlifting is a competitive strength athletics, strength sport that consists of three attempts at maximal weight on three lifts: Squat (exercise), squat, bench press, and deadlift. As in the sport of Olympic weightlifting, it involves the athle ...
and
Weightlifting Weightlifting or weight lifting generally refers to physical exercises and sports in which people lift weights, often in the form of dumbbells, barbells or machines. People engage in weightlifting for a variety of different reasons. These can ...
. Some of the disciplines have similarities to each other and although it is very difficult to master more than one, some athletes participate in several of them and perform at world class levels. Weightlifting consists of two main lifts ('' snatch'' and ''
clean & jerk The clean and jerk is a composite of two weightlifting movements, most often performed with a barbell: the clean and the jerk. During the ''clean'', the lifter moves the barbell from the floor to a racked position across the deltoids, without rest ...
'') and powerlifting consists of three main lifts ('' squat, bench'' and ''
deadlift The deadlift is a strength training exercise in which a weight-loaded barbell is lifted off the ground to the level of the hips, with the torso perpendicular to the floor, before being placed back on the ground. It is one of the three powerlifting ...
'') where all test the maximal strength (one rep max output). Highland games consists of up to about ten different disciplines (including ''
stone put The stone put () is one of the main Scottish heavy athletic events at modern-day Highland games gatherings. While similar to the shot put, the stone put more frequently uses an ordinary stone or rock instead of a steel ball. The weight of the ...
,
Scottish hammer throw Scottish hammer throw is a traditional throwing event derived from ancient Scottish Highland games. It involves heaving of an implement consisting of a wooden handle with a spherical weight attached to one end of it as far as possible. History, ...
,
weight throw Weight throw (or Weight for distance) is a traditional strength sport and throwing event derived from ancient Scottish Highland games. Unlike its other counterpart, the Weight over bar which involves a stationary pendulum like swing for height, ...
,
weight over bar Weight over bar (or Highland games 'one arm' weight over bar) () is a traditional strength sport derived from ancient Scottish Highland games that involves the heaving of a (half hundredweight) weight, over a bar using one hand. Unlike its oth ...
,
caber toss The caber toss () is a traditional Scottish athletic event in which competitors toss a large tapered pole called a "caber" (), normally practised at the Scottish Highland Games. The term "caber" derives from the Gaelic word ''cabar'', whi ...
,
keg toss Keg-tossing (or keg toss) is a traditional strength sport that involves the heaving of a standard half-barrel beer keg or a similar implement. The basic technique involves swinging the keg in a pendulum like manner and releasing when it is at its a ...
'' and ''
sheaf toss Sheaf may refer to: * Sheaf (agriculture), a bundle of harvested cereal stems * Sheaf (mathematics) In mathematics, a sheaf (: sheaves) is a tool for systematically tracking data (such as sets, abelian groups, rings) attached to the open s ...
'') while strongman span across more than thirty different lifts and events (including ''
deadlift The deadlift is a strength training exercise in which a weight-loaded barbell is lifted off the ground to the level of the hips, with the torso perpendicular to the floor, before being placed back on the ground. It is one of the three powerlifting ...
,
vehicle pull Vehicle pull is a Strongman event featured in World’s Strongest Man and other similar competitions which requires competitors to pull extremely heavy trucks, buses, tanks, trains or aeroplanes while being attached to a harness that is connected ...
, log lift, axle press, stonelifting, stone carrying, circus dumbbell press, yoke carry, farmers walk, squat, basque circle, loading medleys'' and '' grip events''), testing both maximal strength and physical endurance. At present day, Strongman takes the bulk of the strength athletics domain, owing to involving both standardized and non standardized tests of strength, as well as for its highly diversified nature.


History


Origins

Strength competitions pre-date written history. The first
Olympics The modern Olympic Games (Olympics; ) are the world's preeminent international sporting events. They feature summer and winter sports competitions in which thousands of athletes from around the world participate in a variety of competit ...
(running, throwing, jumping) were believed to be held in 776 BCE. There are records in many civilizations of feats of strength performed by great heroes, perhaps mythological, such as
Heracles Heracles ( ; ), born Alcaeus (, ''Alkaios'') or Alcides (, ''Alkeidēs''), was a Divinity, divine hero in Greek mythology, the son of ZeusApollodorus1.9.16/ref> and Alcmene, and the foster son of Amphitryon.By his adoptive descent through ...
,
Goliath Goliath ( ) was a Philistines, Philistine giant in the Book of Samuel. Descriptions of Goliath's giant, immense stature vary among biblical sources, with texts describing him as either or tall. According to the text, Goliath issued a challen ...
,
Orm Storolfsson Orm Stórolfsson, also known as Orm Stórolfsson the Strong ( 920–1005 CE), was an Icelandic viking who gained considerable attention during his lifetime for extraordinary feats of strength. Vormsi island (Swedish: ''Ormsö'' – "Orm's Isla ...
and
Milo of Croton Milo or Milon of Croton () was a famous Ancient Greece, ancient Greek athlete from Crotone, Croton, which is today in the Magna Graecia region of southern Italy. Milo was a six-time winner at the Ancient Olympic Games, Olympics, once for boys' w ...
. Competitions that modern strongman events are modeled on,
Scottish Scottish usually refers to something of, from, or related to Scotland, including: *Scottish Gaelic, a Celtic Goidelic language of the Indo-European language family native to Scotland *Scottish English *Scottish national identity, the Scottish ide ...
Highland Gatherings, were formalized around 1820 by
Sir Walter Scott Sir Walter Scott, 1st Baronet (15 August 1771 – 21 September 1832), was a Scottish novelist, poet and historian. Many of his works remain classics of European literature, European and Scottish literature, notably the novels ''Ivanhoe'' (18 ...
. In 1848,
Queen Victoria Victoria (Alexandrina Victoria; 24 May 1819 – 22 January 1901) was Queen of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland from 20 June 1837 until Death and state funeral of Queen Victoria, her death in January 1901. Her reign of 63 year ...
attended the
Braemar Braemar is a village in Aberdeenshire, Scotland, around west of Aberdeen in the Highlands. It is the closest significantly-sized settlement to the upper course of the River Dee, sitting at an elevation of . The Gaelic ''Bràigh Mhàrr'' p ...
Highland Games. In the 18th and 19th centuries,
circus A circus is a company of performers who put on diverse entertainment shows that may include clowns, acrobats, trained animals, trapeze acts, musicians, dancers, hoopers, tightrope walkers, jugglers, magicians, ventriloquists, and unicy ...
strongmen lent
sensationalism In journalism and mass media, sensationalism is a type of editorial tactic. Events and topics in news stories are selected and worded to excite the greatest number of readers and viewers. This style of news reporting encourages biased or emoti ...
to their acts such as bending iron bars, breaking iron chains worn around their chests, and lifting heavy objects. Famous strongmen from this era included Thomas Topham,
Eugen Sandow Eugen Sandow (born Friedrich Wilhelm Müller, ; 2 April 1867 – 14 October 1925) was a German bodybuilder and showman from Prussia. He was born in Königsberg, and became interested in bodybuilding at the age of ten during a visit to Italy. Aft ...
,
Louis Cyr Louis Cyr (; born Cyprien-Noé Cyr; October 10, 1863 – November 10, 1912) was a Canadian strongman (strength athlete), strongman with a career spanning the late 19th and early 20th centuries. Based on his recorded feats, including lifting wit ...
,
Thomas Inch Thomas Inch (27 December 1881 – 12 December 1963) was a British Strongman, who held the titles of Britain's Strongest Youth, Britain's Strong Man and the originator of the Thomas Inch dumbbell challenge. Early life Inch was born on 27 ...
,
Arthur Saxon Arthur Saxon (April 28, 1878 – August 6, 1921), born Arthur Hennig and nicknamed "The Iron-Master", was a German strongman and circus performer from the late 19th century into the early 20th century. Saxon is best known for the bent press, a ...
,
Angus MacAskill Angus MacAskill (1825 – 8 August 1863) was a Scottish-born Canadian giant. In its 1981 edition the ''Guinness Book of World Records'' stated he was the strongest man, the tallest non- pathological giant and the largest true giant in recorded hi ...
, and Alexander Zass. In the 20th century, strength sports such as
weightlifting Weightlifting or weight lifting generally refers to physical exercises and sports in which people lift weights, often in the form of dumbbells, barbells or machines. People engage in weightlifting for a variety of different reasons. These can ...
and
powerlifting Powerlifting is a competitive strength athletics, strength sport that consists of three attempts at maximal weight on three lifts: Squat (exercise), squat, bench press, and deadlift. As in the sport of Olympic weightlifting, it involves the athle ...
were popularized through the
Olympic Games The modern Olympic Games (Olympics; ) are the world's preeminent international Olympic sports, sporting events. They feature summer and winter sports competitions in which thousands of athletes from around the world participate in a Multi-s ...
. However, feats of strength akin to the circus performances also gained in popularity.
David Prowse David Charles Prowse (1 July 1935 – 28 November 2020) was an English actor, bodybuilder, strongman and weightlifter. He portrayed Darth Vader in the original ''Star Wars'' trilogy and a manservant in Stanley Kubrick's 1971 film '' A Clockw ...
(who played
Darth Vader Darth Vader () is a fictional character in the ''Star Wars'' franchise. He was first introduced in the original film trilogy as the primary antagonist and one of the leaders of the Galactic Empire. He has become one of the most iconic villain ...
in ''
Star Wars ''Star Wars'' is an American epic film, epic space opera media franchise created by George Lucas, which began with the Star Wars (film), eponymous 1977 film and Cultural impact of Star Wars, quickly became a worldwide popular culture, pop cu ...
'') was initially famous in 1964 for his lifting the famed
Dinnie Stones The Dinnie Stones (also called Stanes or Steens) are a pair of Scottish lifting stones located in Potarch, Aberdeenshire. They were made famous by strongman Donald Dinnie, who reportedly carried the stones barehanded across the width of the Pot ...
, the first man to do so since
Donald Dinnie Donald Dinnie (10 July 1837 – 2 April 1916) was a Scottish strongman, wrestler, and multi-sport athlete, born at Balnacraig, Birse, near Aboyne, Aberdeenshire. Sometimes regarded as "The Nineteenth Century's greates ...
himself a century earlier.


Television

Perhaps the most famous event is the
World's Strongest Man The World's Strongest Man is an international strongman competition held every year. Organized by American event management company IMG, a subsidiary of Endeavor, it is broadcast in the US during summers and in the UK around the end of Decemb ...
competition, still described by a number of highly respected authorities in the sport as the premier event in strength athletics. The concept behind 'The World's Strongest Men', as it was originally named, was developed in 1977 for
CBS CBS Broadcasting Inc., commonly shortened to CBS (an abbreviation of its original name, Columbia Broadcasting System), is an American commercial broadcast television and radio network serving as the flagship property of the CBS Entertainme ...
by Langstar Inc. David Webster, a Scot who later received an
OBE The Most Excellent Order of the British Empire is a British order of chivalry, rewarding valuable service in a wide range of useful activities. It comprises five classes of awards across both civil and military divisions, the most senior two o ...
for his services to sport, was the head coordinator of the competition from its inception. Dr Douglas Edmunds, seven-times Scottish shot and discus champion and twice world caber champion, worked with Webster. When Webster retired from his position, Edmunds took over. These two men were responsible for inviting the competitors and choosing the events. They selected men who had shown prowess in the mainstream fields of strength sports and field athletics events, such as
shot put The shot put is a track-and-field event involving "putting" (throwing) a heavy spherical Ball (sports), ball—the ''shot''—as far as possible. For men, the sport has been a part of the Olympic Games, modern Olympics since their 1896 Summer Olym ...
,
American football American football, referred to simply as football in the United States and Canada and also known as gridiron football, is a team sport played by two teams of eleven players on a rectangular American football field, field with goalposts at e ...
, powerlifters,
bodybuilders Bodybuilding is the practice of progressive resistance exercise to build, control, and develop one's muscles via hypertrophy. An individual who engages in this activity is referred to as a bodybuilder. It is primarily undertaken for aesthetic ...
and
wrestlers Wrestling is a Martial arts, martial art, combat sport, and form of entertainment that involves grappling with an opponent and striving to obtain a position of advantage through different throws or techniques, within a given ruleset. Wrestling ...
. The idea was to create a spectacle that would test competitors against one another. The show was enough of a success that it began to be replicated in other countries, such as
Britain's Strongest Man Britain's Strongest Man is an annual strongman event held in the United Kingdom. Competitors qualify for the final through regional heats and the winner is awarded the title of "Britain's Strongest Man". The competition is produced by TWI and ...
(1979). Competitors began shifting from unpaid amateurs to professional strongmen. By the end of the 20th century, and in to the 21st, other strongman programs and events were created such as Strongman Championship hosted by Errol Silverman. Other competitions have been televised, such as the
World Muscle Power Championships The World Muscle Power Classic (WMPC) (sometimes known as the World Muscle Power Championships) was one of the most enduring annual strongman competitions, running for twenty years and in that time attaining the position of the second most prestig ...
,
World Strongman Challenge The World Strongman Challenge was one of the most enduring annual strongmen competitions, running in various guises for twenty years, with only two years break. In that time it attained the position of one of the most prestigious strongman contest ...
,
Arnold Strongman Classic The Arnold Strongman Classic is an annual competition featuring strength athletes from all over the world, determining who is the Strongest Man in the World. Created by Arnold Schwarzenegger, Jim Lorimer and Terry Todd, it is an offshoot of t ...
,
Giants Live Giants Live is a professional strongman tour which was originated in the United Kingdom. It hosts several prominent competitions each year, including national competitions such as Britain's Strongest Man, international competitions such as Eur ...
, Highlander World Championships,
World Strongman Federation The "World Strongman" International Union of associations and clubs (old name World Strongman Federation - "WSF") ("WSM") is a worldwide organization within strength athletics, founded by Vlad Redkin, a prominent figure in the history of the Inter ...
, and
Europe's Strongest Man Europe's Strongest Man is an annual strength athletics competition which began in 1980. The event is held in various locations throughout Europe, and features exclusively European strongman competitors. Mariusz Pudzianowski holds the record for mo ...
.


Common disciplines

There is no set rule about what specific events will occur in a contest, except that to prevent single-event specialists from gaining an advantage, each event will be different (a single contest will not include two squat events, or two overhead lifting events, for example). Normally, a strongman contest comprises five or six events, though at the top level of competition, seven or eight events may be held. Among the most common events are: * ''Farmer's Walk'' – competitors race along a course while carrying a heavy weight in each hand. A variation is the Giant Farmer's Walk, with a much heavier weight carried over a shorter distance. * ''
Hercules Hercules (, ) is the Roman equivalent of the Greek divine hero Heracles, son of Jupiter and the mortal Alcmena. In classical mythology, Hercules is famous for his strength and for his numerous far-ranging adventures. The Romans adapted the Gr ...
Hold'' or ''Pillars of Hercules'' – contestants stand between two pillars, pivoted to fall outwards. The competitor must simply hold them up for as long as possible. * ''
Vehicle pull Vehicle pull is a Strongman event featured in World’s Strongest Man and other similar competitions which requires competitors to pull extremely heavy trucks, buses, tanks, trains or aeroplanes while being attached to a harness that is connected ...
'' – competitors pull a vehicle from a stationary start for a prescribed distance – fastest over the course wins. Trucks are commonly used, but larger spectacles employ trains, boats, and airplanes. * '' Atlas Stones'' – a
lifting stone Lifting stones are heavy natural stones which people are challenged to lift, proving their strength. They are common throughout Northern Europe, particularly Iceland (where they are referred to as ''steintökin''), Scotland, Ireland, Basque Countr ...
event whereby five spherical concrete stones of increasing weight are placed on top of podia of varying height, beginning with the lightest stone lifted to approximately a normal person's head height. Alternatively, the stone is lifted over a bar for reps. * '' Stone Carry'' – in Iceland, the original stone carry was performed with the
Húsafell Stone The Húsafell Stone is a legendary lifting stone weighing 186 kg (410 lb) located in a west country farming estate in Húsafell, Iceland about northeast of Reykjavík. The slightly triangular, slab shaped stone is kept at a Pen (enclos ...
, that was to be carried for a stretch to achieve the title fullsterkur (full-strong). This stone was not round but irregular, increasing the difficulty. * ''Refrigerator Carry'' – a staple of earlier WSM events that has made a comeback in recent years. The competitors carry two refrigerators, attached to an iron bar they hold on their shoulders, and walk it across the finish line as fast as they can. * ''Carry and Drag'' – an object (usually a heavy anchor) is run across half of the course. The competitors then must attach it to a chain of almost equal weight and pull it across the rest of the course. * ''Fingal's Fingers'' – under a timer, lift and flip a series of progressively heavier, hinged poles from a horizontal starting position.


Major titles and title holders


See also

*
Strongwoman A strongwoman is a woman who performs feats of strength in a show or circus, or a woman who competes in strength athletics. Traditionally, strongwomen have had a special appeal, as women involved in demonstrated feats of strength were exceptions ...
*
High striker A high striker, also known as a strength tester, or strongman game, is an attraction used in funfairs, amusement parks, fundraisers, and carnivals. It operates by utilizing the lever where one end holds a puck attached to the tower and the other ...
*
Strength athletics in Iceland Strength athletics in Iceland refers to the participation of Icelandic competitors and holding national strongman competitions. The sport's roots have a long and ancient history going back to – 1056, with sagas about Orm Storolfsson, Finnbogi ...
*
Strength athletics in the United States Strength athletics in the United States refers to the various strongman competitions organized throughout United States and North America with the elements of all of strength athletics taken into account. United States has held a preeminent positio ...
*
Strength athletics in the United Kingdom and Ireland Strength athletics in the United Kingdom and Ireland has a long history going back many centuries before the televisation of strongman competitions in the 1970s. The ancient heritage of the sport in the United Kingdom and Ireland lies in a numbe ...
*
Strongman (strength athlete) Strongman is a competitive strength athletics, strength sport which tests athletes' physical strength and endurance through a variety of heavy lifts and events. Strongman competitions are known for their intensity, pushing athletes to their physic ...
*
World's Strongest Man The World's Strongest Man is an international strongman competition held every year. Organized by American event management company IMG, a subsidiary of Endeavor, it is broadcast in the US during summers and in the UK around the end of Decemb ...
*
World Strongman Federation The "World Strongman" International Union of associations and clubs (old name World Strongman Federation - "WSF") ("WSM") is a worldwide organization within strength athletics, founded by Vlad Redkin, a prominent figure in the history of the Inter ...
*
Beauty and the Beast "Beauty and the Beast" is a fairy tale written by the French novelist Gabrielle-Suzanne Barbot de Villeneuve and published in 1740 in (''The Young American and Marine Tales''). Villeneuve's lengthy version was abridged, rewritten, and publish ...
was billed as the World Strongman Challenge. * List of strongmen *
International Federation of Strength Athletes The International Federation of Strength Athletes (IFSA or IFSA Strongman) was an international governing body for strongman competition. IFSA operated from 1995 to 2007 and was based in Glasgow, Scotland. History Origins In 1995, David Webst ...
("IFSA") *
History of physical training and fitness Physical training has been present in some human society, human societies throughout history. Usually, people trained to prepare for physical competition or display, to improve physical, emotional and mental health, and to look attractive. The ...


References


External links


World's Strongest Man

Old Time Strongman Training

United States All Round Weightlifting Association
{{DEFAULTSORT:Strength Athletics Strongmen competitions National strongmen competitions Individual sports