Strongman Training for Everyone: The Best Exercises for Real World Strength

Strongman training offers some of the most effective strength-building exercises available. These movements develop maximal strength, functional capacity, work capacity, stamina, balance, and core stability. Despite this, most people rarely include them in their programs — if they are even aware of them.

The reality is that strongman training develops a type of whole-body, integrated strength and conditioning that is difficult to replicate with machine-based or highly isolated methods. Nearly anyone can benefit from incorporating strongman exercises into their program. Below are six of the most effective strongman movements to consider.

What Is Strongman Training?

Dating back to the late 19th century, strongman is one of the oldest strength sports. Originally, strongmen performed in European circuses as "human wonders," demonstrating feats meant to entertain and astonish audiences. These spectacles included squatting barbells loaded with people, tug of war with animals, and pulling vehicles loaded with passengers.

Over time, strongman evolved into a structured sport with standardized events and rules. However, its defining characteristic remains the same: lifting, carrying, and manipulating awkward, irregular loads. That element of irregular loading is precisely what gives strongman training its unique physical adaptations (Hindle et al., 2019).

Types of Strongman Training

Strongman training can broadly be described as unconventional strength training — movements that exist outside traditional barbell norms. Major event categories include:

1. Deadlifts

Performed with axle bars, wagon wheels, tires, or even vehicles. Pull heights may vary from mid-shin to knee level (Hindle et al., 2019).

2. Overhead Pressing

Implements include log bars, axle bars, circus dumbbells, kegs, stones, and sandbags. The Viking press introduces an angled pressing pattern (Hindle et al., 2019).

3. Carries

Farmer carries, frame carries, sandbag carries, and stone carries. The objective is simple: pick up something heavy and move with it (McGill et al., 2009; Hindle et al., 2019).

4. Pulling/Dragging

Truck pulls, sled drags, rope pulls, and chain drags (Hindle et al., 2019).

5. Loading

Lifting an object from the ground and placing it onto a raised platform — for example, atlas stone loading (Hindle et al., 2019).

Benefits of Strongman Training

Real-World Strength Transfer

Strongman movements closely resemble many real-world physical tasks. Research on functional training highlights the importance of multi-joint, integrated movements performed under variable loads (La Scala Teixeira et al., 2017). Strongman naturally satisfies these criteria.

• Farmer carry → carrying groceries
• Atlas stone loading → lifting heavy luggage
• Sandbag carry → manual labor tasks
• Sled push → pushing a stalled vehicle

Unlike perfectly balanced barbells, strongman implements shift, rotate, and challenge stabilization — more similar to real-life tasks (La Scala Teixeira et al., 2017; Hindle et al., 2019).

Dynamic, Integrated Movement

Life is dynamic. You rarely lift an object and immediately set it down. Instead, you pick it up, move it, stabilize it, and reposition it. Strongman training develops whole-body coordination, force production, core stability, balance, anaerobic conditioning, and power. Systematic reviews confirm that strongman-style movements produce high trunk activation and significant systemic loading (Hindle et al., 2019).

Rather than replacing traditional training, strongman methods can complement barbell, machine, or bodyweight programs by adding integrated, irregular loading and work capacity demands.

Core Strength and Spinal Stability

The primary role of the core is stabilization — not repeated flexion and extension. McGill et al. (2009) demonstrated high trunk activation and substantial spinal loading during strongman events, particularly carries and lifting tasks. Loaded carries and front holds demand anti-flexion, anti-rotation, and bracing strength, making them highly effective for real-world spinal stability.

Technical Accessibility

Many strongman movements (sled pushes, carries, sandbag lifts) require less technical precision than Olympic lifts while still producing high force outputs. This can make them more accessible to general populations when coached appropriately (Hindle et al., 2019). Less technical does not mean risk-free — proper loading, progression, and supervision remain essential.

Multi-Variable Conditioning

Strongman events train multiple fitness variables simultaneously: maximal strength, muscular endurance, anaerobic capacity, power output, and work capacity. Harris et al. (2016) demonstrated that strongman training produces significant acute physiological stress and conditioning demand compared to traditional resistance training.

The Best Strongman Exercises

1) Farmer Carry — Total Body Strength & Conditioning

Benefits

• Improves grip strength (linked to mortality and functional capacity; López Bueno et al., 2022)
• Develops upper back and scapular stability
• Enhances core stability and gait integrity
• Builds anaerobic conditioning

Loaded carries are strongly supported in the literature for trunk activation and spinal stiffness (McGill et al., 2009). Grip strength is also strongly associated with health outcomes across large datasets (López Bueno et al., 2022).

Execution

1. Stand between two implements.
2. Deadlift them with a neutral spine.
3. Brace the core.
4. Walk with controlled, steady steps.
5. Maintain upright posture and neutral head position.

2) Sandbag Shouldering

A full-body movement combining hip hinge, triple extension, upper back stabilization, and rotational control. Ratamess et al. (2018) demonstrated that sandbag protocols produce significant metabolic and cardiorespiratory responses, supporting their use for both strength and conditioning. The unstable load increases stabilization demands compared to fixed implements, aligning with functional training principles (La Scala Teixeira et al., 2017).

3) Sled Work — Dynamic Strength and Conditioning

Sled pushes, pulls, and drags are highly versatile and scalable.

Benefits

• High concentric output
• Low joint impact
• Easily modifiable intensity
• Strong conditioning stimulus

Strongman training more broadly has been shown to drive meaningful acute physiological responses compared with traditional resistance training (Harris et al., 2016). Sled-based pushing and dragging also fit within the broader strongman exercise taxonomy described in systematic reviews (Hindle et al., 2019).

4) Front Carry (Húsafell Carry)

The Húsafell carry is based on the historic stone in Iceland weighing 186 kg (409 lbs). The modern variation uses sandbags or specialized implements.

Benefits

• Upper back development
• Anti-flexion core stability
• Total body bracing

Front-loaded carry and hold variations increase trunk extensor demands and challenge posture under load (McGill et al., 2009). Unconventional loading methods are also commonly emphasized in applied strength and conditioning contexts (Santana & Fukuda, 2011).

5) Sandbag Throw — Power Development

Sandbag throws train triple extension (hip, knee, ankle) and rapid force production. Research comparing strongman-style training to traditional resistance training shows comparable improvements in force production and muscular function (Winwood et al., 2015).

6) Log Press — Upper Body Strength & Power

The log press combines a clean pattern, leg drive (push press), and overhead lockout stability. Winwood et al. (2015) demonstrated that strongman-style programs can produce strength and performance adaptations comparable to traditional resistance training. Strongman pressing movements and their biomechanics are also covered in the strongman systematic review literature (Hindle et al., 2019).

Strongman Training: A Highly Effective Complement to Traditional Training

Strongman training is often perceived as extreme or niche, but its movements are highly scalable and adaptable. When programmed appropriately, they can be used effectively with beginners, older adults, women, and elite athletes alike.

Rather than replacing traditional barbell or machine training, strongman methods provide a powerful complement — adding integrated loading, instability, and conditioning demand that can enhance real-world strength and resilience (Hindle et al., 2019; Harris et al., 2016).

Incorporating even one or two of these movements into your weekly training can significantly expand your strength profile and work capacity (Winwood et al., 2015).

---

⬆️ Back to Top