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Have you seen the strongman competition? Won by Zydrūnas Savickas in 2009, it is held annually and often involves giant men such as Bill Kazmaier, Mariusz Pudzianowski and Magnus Ver Magnusson performing feats of strength that are unimaginable and inspiring. Performing stunts such as lifting atlas balls, the ‘Hercules hold’, barrel throwing, flipping giant tires, ‘duck walk’ and car transport, both against the clock and against competitors; The strongman competition is the most important strength event in the world. The strength and conditioning of these athletes is phenomenal. There, strength conditioning not only involves the ability to lift massive weights, but also to carry them over distances that take into consideration the cardiovascular aspect of your training. When you watch the strongman events, you can’t help but notice that some of these athletes push themselves to the point of nosebleeds. The effort and dedication put into the event is due to the love sacrificed to be the best no matter what the cost. I would not want to tread lightly on the gym training or training program of any of these Incredible Hulks let alone compete in Strongman.
One of the strongman events is pulling a truck or plane with a rope. Vehicles such as transport trucks, trams, buses or planes are towed by hand through a 30-meter course as quickly as possible. In 2007 a fire truck was dragged and in 2008 a coal truck. The truck itself sometimes weighs more than 12 tons. How can a human being pull such a heavy truck? What type of weight training, strength training exercise, strength conditioning, or gym workout would one follow to achieve such monstrous proportions of strength? Some of these athletes can pull the truck beyond 30 meters in about 30-40 seconds. This demonstrates raw strength along with stamina and speed. How is a human being able to perform such a feat? Does science have an answer to this? Is this all geometry and physics? Or does it have something to do with the strength training anatomy of the individual in question, i.e. is he a superman?
Yes, it takes phenomenal strength to do this. But is there more? Examining the truck or plane pull in detail: When you look at the athlete’s posture in the event, you notice that his posture is somewhat similar to that of a 100m sprinter on the blocks. Take a close look at Dwain Chambers, Usain Bolt or Assafa Powel blocking before their 100m sprint. The strong man stance is similar. They all tend to lean forward at a 45-degree angle.
A ball thrown into the air at an angle of 45 degrees travels the farthest. A cricket batsman like Vivian Richards of the West Indies or Aravinda De Silva of Sri Lanka can hit the leather cricket ball off the cricket pitch, past the spectators, over the seagulls and into nearby housing complexes by taking aim. your punches at a 45 degree angle. This is pure physics. A projectile fired at 45 degrees travels farthest since at this angle the greatest distance is covered with maximum force. This theory is implemented in the launch of missiles and rockets. Therefore, by maintaining a 45 degree angle to the ground, a strongman’s strength training anatomy is able to push the greatest force against the truck/plane he is towing. A higher angle exerts less force and possibly causes balance difficulties as his center of mass/gravity drifts off course. A lower angle reduces the frictional force the strongman has on the ground. The force at an exercise angle of 45 degrees is the greatest.
Taking a look at the truck/airplane pull reveals that a strong man does not perform a single pull (or push forward), but instead exerts a sustained set of continuous, repetitive pulls. His strength conditioning involves momentum. He doesn’t explode with a single pull, but instead uses the speed of each pull to propel the next pull. Bodybuilders often avoid this type of training as momentum uses physics rather than muscle fiber to make the weights move in their training movement. Each pull of the strong man loosens the rope before he pulls again. Friction causes the truck to slow down after each jerk. This strongman event is compared to a strength training exercise of squatting 220kg for 40+ reps in less than 30-40 seconds. Does it sound possible to you?
What does all this have to do with Rugby? The World Cup is not far away and much remains to be done in preparation. Strength training and more so functional strength training is likely to be the deciding factor at the 2011 Rugby World Cup. The 2009 Tri Nations revealed that strength, toughness and endurance crowned South Africa the victor . It’s about time teams around the world take advantage of functional strength training and drink the spoils of warrior-grade training. Who better to learn from than the kings of strength and endurance? The strong man.
Rugby League or Rugby Union; It doesn’t really matter which version of the game you play. Advancing with consistent force, sustained waves of attack in the hope of penetrating opposition defenses and forming thunderous defensive walls are an integral part of the game. The strongman truck pull immediately reminds me of the Rugby Union scrum. Body position, stances and goals i.e. moving forward against a force (the force of the opposition scrum and the friction force on the truck are in the same directions!) are surprisingly similar. Following the example of the strong man, if a rugby player stands at a 45-degree angle when he advances, he is likely to exert the most strength and power. Therefore, he is able to get the most out of his strength training through leveraging his angle of attack. When the entire scrum comes together in this formation, they are a force to be reckoned with. Some scrum teams weigh over a ton and I wonder how many 747s they could pull. The scrum also needs to advance in repetitive bursts of forward thrust. They all need to be in sync to exert the most force. I immediately start to imagine movie 300 where the Spartan Warriors banded together to form a protected defensive group advancing in synchronized harmony. Maximum force is exerted in this way.
Most of the crowd-pleasing moments in the game of rugby are when a carrier or defender is brought down to the turf in a tackle. The more ‘highway runner cartoon type’ the entry is, the more reaction one will get from the crowd. We are like the ancient Romans during gladiatorial battles. Most of the ‘victims’ of such tackles are those who stood tall in the tackle. We learned that if you position yourself above 45 degrees, you can have problems with your balance and you certainly can’t exert much force while you’re not balanced. His center of gravity/mass is easily shifted from a balance point and he could easily tip over no matter how strong, powerful or heavy he is. If it is below 45 degrees, you are likely to fall forward or slip in wet grass conditions. At 45 degrees, any defender has a good chance of using their maximum strength to take down an attacker. Any attacker is most effective when he maintains a 45 degree angle as he charges forward. Any defender caught above or below 45 degrees is vulnerable and opens up a weak link in the 300 Spartan Warrior build. They will also find it hard to get down into position fast enough. As a career, always keep your eyes open for such opportunities. As a defender, always keep training.
Have you ever wondered why powerlifters perform their movements quickly? Whereas bodybuilders perform slower reps but a lot more. Weightlifter movements, such as the bench press, deadlift, or squat, are performed quickly. Weightlifters are the pinnacle; the top of the strength conditioning guys. In fact, for the bench press or squat, lowering the weight quickly and using that momentum to propel yourself up is a way to trick your muscles into pushing heavier weights; although that would make Olympia bodybuilding gurus like Dorian Yates insult you. Momentum is critical. Physics dictates that F = MA, that is, Force = Mass multiplied by Acceleration. The faster a player moves, the more force he is likely to exert at impact. In the scrum, charging, rolling mauls or defending, the more momentum, the more power. The opposition needs to exert equal force to stop you. Even if they attack you from the ankles, their forearms, arms and shoulders will have to absorb the force of your impact and guarantee that you will never be forgotten. Strength and speed are attributed to power. The power will decide who wins the 2011 Rugby World Cup. Will it be the All Blacks? Or the Springboks? England? Fiji? Functional strength training will reveal the new champions.
Olympic lifters (watch out for them at the London Olympics followed by Samba in Rio!) also capitalize on speed. In strength conditioning it is important to include repetition. That is, train your muscles repetitively for the movement you want to perform. There’s a very good reason why Olympic athletes may not be able to bench press as much (I often find people on the internet criticizing strong competitors when they find out they can’t bench press as much either). By immersing ourselves in human biology, our brains build neural pathways. A neural pathway tells the brain that a certain set of muscles should be used in a certain sequence under a certain amount of force. Our bodies adapt to the stresses placed on them and build the strength training anatomy necessary to handle the load. This adds strength to the statement: practice makes perfect. Determining the strength of one person over another is useless as it all depends on the role they have been training for. Sometimes the lanky looking guy is more dangerous in the dark alley than the big monster in the bank. Using momentum in conjunction with conditioning your body (repeating strength exercises) is what gives you the most power. As part of your strength training, weight training, gym workout, or workout program, include speed and repetition to push or pull heavier weights.
There is still much to be learned from the science of strongman competition. Strongman competitors, powerlifters and Olympic lifters provide unique learning points for rugby players. It is wise to learn the battle plans of the Spartan warriors; it is wisdom to learn about gladiatorial combat and it is wisdom to learn from the professional strongmen of this world how a physical game like rugby can be mastered and taken to a whole new level.
There will be much more to come.