The Prevalence of of Strongman implements at The Crossfit Games has been on the rise for the past few years but the announcement of the 7th individual workout for 2017 “Strongman’s Fear” is by far the most classic Strongman style event yet.

From Games.Crossfit.com

For time:

60-ft. yoke carry + 60-ft. handstand walk

60-ft. farmers log carry + handstand walk

60-ft. sled drag

60-ft. yoke carry + 60-ft. handstand walk

60-ft. farmers log carry + handstand walk

60-ft. sled drag *Athletes may carry the objects in any order they choose.

M 420-lb. yoke, 170-lb. logs, 265-lb. sled

F 300-lb. yoke, 120-lb. logs, 220-lb. sled Each lane will contain a yoke, 2 logs and a sled. Athletes must move all 3 items across the stadium floor, in any order. All 3 objects must be brought to the middle of the field, then moved to the end of the field. Each time the athlete moves back to retrieve a new object, they must handstand walk the 60-ft. section. The athlete’s score is the total time it takes for them to complete the event. Time cap: 11 minutes

In the Strongman world we would call this a medley with some very standard tests such as a yoke walk, farmers walk (referred to by Crossfit as logs) and a sled drag. The twist is they have to handstand walk the weights may be on the lighter side and I believe the athletes are capable of more but this is the 7th event on the third day of a grueling contest with an 11 minute time cap it is meant to be a shorter event and is programed well.

What this will really show is what athletes pay attention to trends and treat Strongman training with the same importance they do more commonly associated skills with Crossfit such as Weightlifting and gymnastics as efficiency is always key. The Strongman events will also tax the core, forearms, grip and more for future events such as the next one which is a muscle up/clean ladder with weights going up to 235lbs for females and 350lbs for males. Strongman’s Fear will have a big impact on that event for athletes that don’t have efficient technique with the Strongman implements and rely on brute power to finish the course.

There is a bit of strategy as well as it says the implements can be moved in any order so which order do you choose? On first thought I would recommend to go farmers then yoke then sled as you want to do farmers before your forearms and shoulders are pumped after handstand walks as grip is effected when forearms are fatigued and once grip goes it goes quick, If you can’t grip something you can’t move it. Fatigiuing your grip to that point will have lasting effects on the rest of the events as I find it also takes a long time to recover. Yoke walk will really put a strain on the core for the following handstand walks but it is at a weight that should be manageable for this level of athlete. The reason I recommend to do the sled drag last is it will cause a lot of lactic acid build up in the legs which will make the other events a lot harder as they require sure steps and foot speed to be efficient.

Check out our Youtube videos below for a couple tips on the events.

Featured Image: Screenshot from @TheDaveCastro

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