Exercises That the World's Strongest Men Do

The World’s Strongest Man competition demands execution of fierce powerlifting exercises that might seem impossible for human beings to accomplish. Extreme training programs are required for competitors to build ungodly muscular strength and freakish weightlifting ability. This unconventional approach to gaining maximal human strength enables the world’s strongest men to conquer exercises such as the keg toss, car deadlift and Atlas stones.

  1. The Yoke

    • Life as a “strongman” demands an incomparable brand of determination and powerlifting genius. World’s Strongest Man competitors need to sustain the strength to achieve feats such as “the yoke,” which requires participants to carry 1,000 pounds over 30 meters in just 60 seconds, according to BBC News. Strongman competitor Mark Felix states that his training regimen includes a combination of Olympic lifting, powerlifting and general bodybuilding. In addition, Felix consumes 7,500 calories over six meals per day to supplement his body with the nutrition needed to gain enormous amounts of muscle mass.

    Barbell Squat Training

    • A majority of strongman exercises involve generating a tremendous amount of power from the legs to exert explosive strength, which requires extensive training. The "American Journal of Sports Medicine" examined the effects of fast barbell squat training and its resulting impact on total-body power. The study concluded that absolute power was improved over three weeks, demonstrated from increased explosiveness in the hips, knees and ankles, which was measured in the long jump and vertical jump. This power-based exercise requires lifting a loaded barbell from the ground without bending your arms or arching your back.

    Car Deadlift

    • In 2000, "Medicine and Science in Sports and Exercise" studied competitors who employ sumo or conventional deadlift training and determined that high contractions in the quadriceps and hamstrings had a closed kinetic chain effect, which significantly increases knee flexion. This type of explosive movement is frequently forced upon strongman competitors. It is required to execute inhuman events, such as the car deadlift, which requires competitors to lift the weight of a car over their heads. Other explosive exercises demand a combination of supreme upper-body strength and lower-body propulsion, such as the keg toss and metal block press.

    Atlas Stones

    • The Atlas stones is a fierce, adrenaline-pumping lifting exercise that requires competitors to pick up a sequence of five massive chunks of rounded stone that weigh over 400 pounds, and place them on barrels of different heights. This timed exercise forces enormous strain on the hips and knees, and also tests the mental and physical endurance level of strongmen. Completing the Atlas stones event is a testament to high-octane bodybuilding and dedicated powerlifting sessions.