I remember when I was young watching the world’s strongest man competition. I was always incredibly impress with the weight those guys could move and the size they carried on their frames. These men resembled mountains and oxen more than regular men. I always had an interest in strongman training but other than some random lifts here and there never really got into it. There were a couple of gyms that I visited that had logs and I tried them out for fun but didn’t have the money to afford the equipment myself.
I was suffering from limited thinking and not thinking about all of the strongman stuff I could use with the equipment I had. After all a good portion of strongman training came from farming tools or stuff men had to do to survive before the industrial age. Alright so maybe men didn’t have to toss cabers or lift large boulders but those same type of movements would have been used. Point is you can include strongman training into your regular routine without spending money on equipment using what I’m going to lay out in this article.
Kettlebell Tosses
This was something that I first picked up when me and my friend were betting which one of us was stronger. At the time all we could throw around was a kettlebell (the plates and barbell are a little awkward to throw, trust me we tried). So we got a kettlebell and went out back and saw who could throw it the farthest. We would grip it overhand and then toss it back over our heads as far as we could. It had to hit where the handle smacked against the ground instead of rolled against the ground (so the flat part hit otherwise it’d be going forever).
We go back grab a stick place it as the “starting position” and you’d have to throw behind the stick. Then when the kettlebell landed and stopped going we’d mark (generally with another stick in the ground) and then the next person would go. We’d generally do best out of three. It was fun and who knows maybe we got stronger or more powerful from it. But I know that still to this day that I’ll go out and do kettlebell tosses.
Farmer’s Walks
I’ve seen gyms with these really overpriced metal bars that are essentially barbells adjusted for farmer’s walks. But really there is no need for all that. After all pretty much all a farmer’s walk is is walking for a set length or period of time with some heavy weight. No need to get all fancy. A good farmer’s walk can be done with a regular set of dumbbells or some one hundred pound weights if you really want to get after it. This is another thing that we started out doing as a competition. This time I think it was in football and not the backyard but the basic concept still applies.
Grab two heavy weight and start walking with them. We’d set up an obstacle course of sorts where you’d have to zig zag all over and then come back and do it again. You grip really gets tested when you’re having to lean this way and that trying to make it back to beat your buddies time. You can also do these in the gym in a figure 8 problem. Sure you look a little weird like you’re lost or a little funny but it’s great for building up grip strength and that full body farm boy strength you’ve probably heard your football coach talk about.
Fat Grips
Here’s once piece of equipment that I actually think is worth it. I guess I’m supposed to include an affiliate link here somewhere but just Google fat grips and you’ll find em cheaper than any affiliate would offer them for. These are grips that go around the barbell and well make the barbell fat. Clever name right? Anyways just plop these onto the regular barbell and they make picking it up a hell of a lot harder. They are great for forearm and grip strength and trying out new stuff.
I’ve used fat grips for pulling, pressing, and just about anything else I could think of to use them for. They come in real handy and are great for including some grip work. Especially if you do a combat sport or have a job where you have to put your hands on people often. Fat grips help to really get that bone crushing grip that working on a farm or being a strongman will give you.
Summary
So there you have it three strongman training things you can do at home for little to no cost. I always try to include some type of strongman training into my routine. One because I like it and two there are many benefits to it. On some Saturdays we’d have entire days dedicated to strongman lifts. We’d use whatever was available and all test our strengths it was great fun and something I’d recommend you check out at some point in time.
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-Charles Sledge
