11/15/2014 6:04:43 PM - Talor Hey Clint, first off i wanted to say that I always enjoy your in depth answers and your training log. And you have my best wishes to you and your family for what you're going through right now. My question is about strongman training and how and what I could incorporate into my own training. I train for powerlifting specifically, i have my own garage gym (with efs power rack, bench, GHR, and ss yoke bar) also a homemade deadlift platform form with band attachments and i have bands and chains. I train using the conjugate method. I am fascinated with strongman training and would like to do some mixed in with my training without completely comprising my powerlifting goals. What could I do and how could i incorporate it into my training? Im kind lost when it comes to strongman so i dont know where to start or how to do it. Thank you for your time and look forward to your answer. Talor,



Thanks for the message!



I think that this is actually easier than you might think that it is. While I'd like to see what you are currently doing in the gym there are a few things that you could simply START with that will get you at least moving in the right direction.



When I began training for Strongman I knew that I simply just had to get some new things to train with. I was broke but I had courage and creativity. I made stones from wood, farmers walk implements from EZ Curl Bars then from wood, I hung chains from my squat bar looped through plates for a yoke, and picked up a 600 lb tire to play with. I pushed my truck up and down the driveway, got a sled to pull, made some thick bars and bought a log to play with.



There is no right or wrong but what I can suggest is that you back off of your squat, bench press, and deadlift by say 5-10% for a couple of months and look at using the strongman events not as your secondary exercises but as your third or accessory work. This is great for just LEARNING movements and not eating too much of your recovery or getting injured by pushing yourself too hard on a series of new exercises.



Really, you can't go wrong. Use the Strongman Events as accessories or simply lay out a day for Event Specific work. I trained for more than a decade like so:



Sunday:

Max Effort Lower

Strongman OHP

3-5 Events



Tuesday:

Dynamic Effort Upper



Thursday:

Dynamic Effort Lower



Friday:

Rest of light accessory work



Here are just a few pictures to give you some ideas of the many directions that you can go with your training.



My first squat rack









Thick Bar Rows





Incline when I could actually incline bench 315 x 13













Things didn't always go perfectly...





People DID stop by to train together!















Most importantly, remember that this is FUN! And think about what kind of advice that you would give to someone who has never done powerlifting before and what you would tell them to start out doing. Do you put them straight into a competition tight METAL JACKED shirt and wish them the best of luck or do you watch them bench some straight weight sets for a while and slowly work your way up?



Don't let yourself get out of control.



,

Clint Darden



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