Sport
Strongman is lifting, carrying, pulling and loading heavy, awkward things: stones, logs, axles, yokes, farmer's handles, tyres, sleds and sandbags, often against the clock. You can start in an ordinary gym with a trap bar, dumbbells and a sled, and novice competitions are open to anyone entering for the first time. It's a strength sport with real injury risks, mostly to the lower back, shoulders and biceps, so how you learn the implements matters more than how much you lift.
This guide covers the events and the competition rules, what the research says about injuries and what goes with them, how strongman training compares with ordinary lifting, carries and conditioning, tapering for a competition, and who should check with a GP first. There are two workouts with 3D demos: a beginner's session for the gym and a conditioning circuit. Technique for the barbell lifts is in our lift guides. We're not connected with any strongman federation.
Strongman events lift, carry, press, pull and load stones, yokes, logs, axles, farmer's handles, tyres, sleds, sandbags and kegs. In the US federation Strongman Corporation's rules for 2026, competitors must be at least 12, with a parent or guardian registering anyone under 18, weight classes are in kilograms, and first-timers can enter a novice class.
In a survey of 213 strongman athletes, 82% had been injured in the past year, most often in the lower back, shoulders, biceps and knees. Allowing for the time spent on each, training with implements was about twice as likely to cause an injury as ordinary gym training.
Tyre flips and stones caused the most biceps injuries, and logs and circus dumbbells the most shoulder injuries. The yoke loaded the spine more than any other event in a laboratory comparison, and the stone's shape made a neutral back impossible.
Injuries went with the heavy loads strongman training uses, and in competitions they clustered late in the day, when athletes were tired. Learn each implement light with a coach, stop a set when technique slips, and keep the space around you clear (our reading).
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In the one trial, 7 weeks of strongman training made rugby players as strong and fast as traditional lifting did, and a strongman session was as hard on the body as a session of squats, deadlifts and presses.
With high blood pressure, heart disease, a hernia or in pregnancy, check with your GP before heavy lifting, as our powerlifting page explains, and know the signs of rhabdomyolysis after hard sessions.
Lifting for weight or reps (logs, axles, circus dumbbells, and deadlifts with bars, cars or frames), carrying for time or distance (yokes, farmer's handles, frames, sandbags, kegs and stones), loading (stones, kegs and sandbags onto a platform or over a bar), pulling (sleds and vehicles) and flipping (tyres). Each competition announces its events, weights and distances in advance, and our move pages show each implement.
In 23 semi-professional rugby players new to strongman, body weight plus squat one-rep maximum correlated closely with overall performance (r = 0.87), and squat strength with every event. Of 167 competitors surveyed, 97% did maximal strength training, 90% power training and 88% Olympic lifts, mostly the clean, and 80% planned their training in phases. These are associations and descriptions.
Events last from a few seconds to about a minute. Two sets of 6 flips of a 232 kg tyre took heart rate to 179 beats a minute and blood lactate to 10.4 mmol/L. A session of sled drags, farmer's walks, one-arm dumbbell clean and presses and tyre flips, each set about 30 seconds of near-maximal effort, was an equivalent physiological stimulus to a traditional strength session, and heavy sled pulls looked like the acceleration phase of sprinting.
The lower back (24% of injuries), shoulders (21%), biceps (11%) and knees (11%). In a laboratory study of seven events, the super yoke produced the highest spine loads, from its weight and from the trunk muscles bracing hard to make up for the hips; carrying events challenged the body differently from lifting events. In tyre flips and stone lifts, the biceps help pass force from the trunk and shoulders to the implement.
The Compendium of Physical Activities has no strongman value. Vigorous weightlifting is 6.0 metabolic equivalents (METs), and squats and deadlifts 5.0 METs, both from measurements.
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A heavy hinge and squat, pressing from the shoulders, loaded carries, grip, a trunk that braces, and short, hard conditioning, built up before the implements themselves.
Only one strongman injury survey exists. It asked athletes to recall their injuries over a year, so its numbers are a guide rather than exact rates.
The numbers, by group:
The commonest site, at 24% of injuries. Of injuries at 90% of the one-rep maximum, the lower back was the commonest site and the deadlift the commonest exercise. Our back pain, herniated disc and sciatica guides cover these.
The biceps were 11% of injuries. Tyre flips and stones caused 18 biceps injuries between them, and biceps injuries were 35% of the injuries that happened late in competitions. Case reports describe a distal biceps rupture during a tyre flip and a torn rotator cuff and distal biceps together on an axle press. A sudden pop at the front of the elbow needs checking the same day: our distal biceps guide explains why.
21% of injuries. Logs and circus dumbbells caused 13 shoulder injuries. Our shoulder pain, rotator cuff tear and SLAP tear guides cover these.
11% of injuries, with the squat behind 42% of them. Our knee pain and patellar tendon rupture guides cover these.
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Heavy pressing can tear the chest muscle, and heavy lifts with a held breath push on hernias and raise blood pressure very high, as our powerlifting page explains. Our pec strain, hernia and blood pressure guides cover these.
Associations in the survey:
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We found no study counting accidents with strongman implements. Stones and kegs can roll, handles can slip and a yoke can tip, so the implements section below gives practical rules (our suggestion).
No injury prevention measure has been tested in strongman. Each note says what its evidence is: an association in the survey, a laboratory study, practitioners' guidance or our reading.
We found no trial of any injury prevention measure in strongman, and reviews say the research is mostly surveys and calls for studies that follow athletes forward.
Injuries went with heavy loads and with fatigue late in competitions, and implements were riskier per hour than barbells. Warm up fully, ramp the load, stop a set when technique slips, keep the riskiest events away from the end of hard sessions, and build your strength with barbells and dumbbells before adding implements one at a time (our reading).
94% of 132 competitors warmed up before events, for about 16 minutes, and practised the same warm-up in training. No study has tested whether it prevents injuries.
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Strength coaches writing for the National Strength and Conditioning Association (NSCA) suggest starting with the farmer's walk, with equal weight in each hand, then one-sided suitcase carries, then advanced carries such as the yoke, keeping an upright trunk and walking slowly and under control. They note there is little research on loaded carries.
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The tyre flip caused the most biceps injuries, and the survey's author suggests that weak or tired biceps may limit how force passes from the trunk. Flip a tyre you can move with straight arms and leg drive, and stop when you start curling it (our reading). Our axle deadlift page warns about the biceps of the palm-forward arm.
A held breath is unavoidable near maximal effort, and blood pressure rises with effort. With high blood pressure, heart disease, a hernia or glaucoma, or in pregnancy, follow our guides and keep well short of maximal lifts until your GP or team says otherwise, as on our powerlifting page.
Without good evidence in strongman:
Squat strength tracked performance in every event in novice strongmen, and competitors train like strength athletes: maximal strength, power and Olympic lifts, in planned phases. Our squat, deadlift, front squat and overhead press guides teach the lifts.
In 30 trained rugby players randomised to 7 weeks of strongman or traditional training, twice a week and matched for the movements, both improved strength, power and speed by similar amounts. Strongman training gave small advantages in muscle mass and acceleration and a large one in the bent-over row; traditional training gave small to moderate advantages in the squat, deadlift, jumps, turning and sled push.
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A strongman session of about 30-second near-maximal sets was as demanding as a traditional strength session, and 88% of 220 strength coaches surveyed used implements, mostly for conditioning, power and muscle endurance. In 16 powerlifters and strongman competitors, 8 weeks of added interval training raised aerobic fitness more on a bike than with weights, and both kept or improved strength.
In 29 young men new to the lift, 8 weeks of tyre flipping with a light or heavy tyre (4 sets of 6 flips with 5 minutes' rest, twice a week) improved bench press, repeated-sprint fitness, jumps and agility. Their efficiency improved over the first 6 sessions, then levelled off.
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The NSCA article gives a practitioners' starting point of 2 to 4 rounds of 10 to 20 seconds with a challenging weight, because trials are lacking. Faster farmer's walkers took longer, quicker strides with shorter ground contacts, and in the yoke walk strides lengthened and quickened as speed built over 20 m.
A thicker log changed the forces of the push press, and the log, circus dumbbell and axle press caused shoulder injuries in the survey. Our overhead press guide and push press move page cover the barbell versions.
87% of 454 strongman athletes tapered, typically for about 8.6 days, mostly in a single step down; they cut training volume by about 45%, dropped the intensity in the final week, and stopped training about 4 days before competing. The deadlift, yoke and stones took longest to recover from. A 2026 review of the lifting sports found tapers of 5 to 9 days, with volume down by about 40% to 45%.
Competitors warmed up for about 16 minutes and thought about 8.5 minutes' rest before an event was best. Many used electrolyte drinks, caffeine and pre-workout supplements; that's what they reported doing, not advice.
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First months, in an ordinary gym: 2 or 3 sessions a week, each with a heavy hinge, a squat, a press and carries or sled work (our beginner workout), and one conditioning session a week. Then add implements one at a time, with a coach where you can: carries first, then the axle or log, stones on a trainer, and the yoke.
Before a competition: practise the events you'll meet at the announced weights and distances 3 to 6 weeks out, then taper as above.
Start with farmer's walks and suitcase carries, which the move pages show. Carrying challenged the trunk differently from lifting in the laboratory, and its authors thought carries would add to lifting-based programmes. Put the weights down before your grip fails, with a flat back.
The yoke loaded the spine more than any other event studied, so it comes after strong farmer's and suitcase carries, starting far lighter than any squat load, as our yoke walk page explains. In 19 experienced athletes carrying 85% of their best 20 m load, the hips bent and the knees stayed nearly straight at heel strike, with short, quick strides.
The stone lift has five phases, from gripping and pulling the stone into the lap to standing up and loading it, and its shape makes a rounded back unavoidable. A review calls it one of the most mechanically demanding and potentially injurious strongman exercises. Learn on light stones or a stone trainer with a coach; our stone pages give a starting dose of 1 to 3 lifts a set.
A log or axle is thicker than a bar and harder to hold, and the log is cleaned to the chest before pressing. Our clean and press move page is the nearest demo, and the axle deadlift page shows the grip. Shoulder and biceps injuries came from overhead implements in the survey and a case report.
Tyre flips caused the most biceps injuries. Pick a tyre you can flip with leg drive and straight arms; the trial in young men used 4 sets of 6 flips with 5 minutes' rest.
No study counts these accidents. Practical rules:
The athlete rules, updated 31 December 2025 and effective from 1 January 2026:
The international series' rules (page modified 15 July 2024) allow 1 belt, an elbow warmer on 1 arm, normal straps and normal shoes, and have banned deadlift suits since 1 October 2016. In 2016 the series banned gimmicks and anything that puts athletes at unnecessary risk.
We found no UK strongman federation rulebook and no published drug-testing policy. UK competitions are run by several organisers, each setting its own rules, weight classes and kit limits, so read them before you enter.
No study has looked at injuries in teenage strongman competitors. If a teenager competes, a qualified coach, implements light enough to move well every time, and no maximal stone or yoke attempts until technique is consistent make sense (our suggestion); our children's guide covers strength training for young people.
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Built on the site's warm-up guide (editorial): no warm-up has been tested on strongman injuries. Competitors warm up for about 16 minutes and practise the same warm-up in training. The doses come from the site's CrossFit, martial arts and boxing workouts; the ramp to the first event follows the warm-up guide's lighter sets.
Loading the 3D figure…
The movement on the figure: Hip-hinge practice
The hinge, squat, press, carries, sleds and strongman implements with 3D demos. The stone, log and tyre flip pages have no 3D demo yet.
3D demoTrap bar (hex bar) deadliftIntermediate · Other / check instructions
3D demoAxle deadliftAdvanced · Other / check instructions
3D demoCar deadliftIntermediate · Other / check instructions
3D demoZercher squatAdvanced · A barbell
3D demoDumbbell goblet squatIntermediate · A dumbbell
3D demoBarbell clean and pressAdvanced · A barbell
3D demoFarmer's carryBeginner · A dumbbell + A kettlebell
3D demoSuitcase carryIntermediate · A dumbbell + A kettlebell
3D demoYoke walkAdvanced · Other / check instructions
3D demoRickshaw carryIntermediate · Other / check instructions + Weight plates
3D demoSled pushIntermediate · A sled
3D demoHarness sled dragBeginner · A sled
3D demoKettlebell swingIntermediate · A kettlebellThe first two are new: a beginner's strength session for an ordinary gym and a conditioning circuit. The others add deadlift technique, barbell strength, grip, kettlebells, sleds, the trunk, wrists and a cool-down.
A 60-minute strongman starter session for an ordinary gym: trap bar deadlifts, goblet squats, clean and presses, farmer's and suitcase carries and sled pushes.
60 minBeginner13 movesCardio machine, A wallA 40-minute strongman conditioning circuit: 3 rounds of sled drags, farmer's carries, kettlebell clean and jerks and swings, each about 30 seconds of hard work.
40 minIntermediate9 movesCardio machine, A wallA 30-minute session from the hip hinge to your first deadlift: hinge practice, kettlebell deadlifts, slow Romanian deadlifts, a light bar and a carry.
30 minBeginner9 movesA kettlebell, A dumbbellBarbell strength workout A: back squats and bench presses in sets of five, plus rows. Workout B (squat, overhead press, deadlift) is a separate session.
40 minBeginner6 movesA band, A barbellWorkout B of the beginner strength program: back squats, overhead presses and deadlifts in sets of five, plus chin-ups, with the safety pins set.
55 minBeginner10 movesA band, A barbellA 20-minute grip session: warm up the wrists and fingers, train the hand and forearm muscles, then carry and hang to load your grip the way everyday life does.
20 minBeginner10 movesOther / check instructions, A bandA 20-minute kettlebell swing workout: 30 seconds of swings, 30 seconds of rest, building to the 12 rounds a training trial used, then carries.
20 minIntermediate7 movesA kettlebell, A dumbbellA 30-minute full-body kettlebell workout: deadlifts, swings, cleans, presses, rows, halos and carries.
30 minIntermediate9 movesA kettlebell, A dumbbellA 50-minute strength session for Hyrox and fitness races: squats, lunges, Romanian deadlifts, sleds or step-ups, thrusters, carries, calf raises and planks.
50 minIntermediate14 movesCardio machine, A wallThe McGill big three for the core: curl-ups, side planks and bird dogs, each held for 10 seconds at a time in falling sets of 5, 3 and 1 reps.
12 minBeginner3 movesNo equipmentWrist mobility and forearm strength for desk work, climbing, push-ups and handstands.
10 minBeginner7 movesA wall, A dumbbellA 10-minute cool-down for after a run, a class or a gym session: a few minutes of easy movement, stretches for the muscles you used, then slow breathing.
10 minBeginner9 movesCardio machine, A wallA strength plan builds the base strongman needs; add the conditioning workout once a week.
A 12-week beginner barbell program: squat every session, alternate bench and row with press and deadlift, and add weight each time until it stalls.
3 training days50 minBeginner3 days a weekAn 8-week kettlebell plan for beginners: two strength sessions and a swing-interval day each week, with how to choose a bell and swing safely.
3 training days35 minBeginner3 days a weekFor after about 8 weeks of a beginner plan: three full-body sessions a week, one heavy, one moderate and one light, in a gym or at home, for 12 weeks.
3 training days50 minIntermediateThe PAR-Q+ (Physical Activity Readiness Questionnaire for Everyone) asks about a heart condition or high blood pressure, chest pain, dizziness or losing consciousness, other long-term conditions and their medicines, a bone or joint problem that activity could make worse, and being told to exercise only under supervision. If you answer yes to any, check with your doctor or a qualified exercise professional first. If you're over 45 and not used to hard exercise, ask a qualified exercise professional before the hardest sessions. The NHS lists lifting heavy weights among very vigorous activities and says to speak to your GP first if you haven't exercised for some time or have a medical condition.
Follow our blood pressure guide: 180/100 or higher, speak to your GP first; 200/110 or higher, start nothing new; untreated 160/100 or higher, no heavy or maximal efforts until treatment controls it. With heart disease, Marfan syndrome or a widened aorta, get your cardiologist's advice before maximal lifts, as our powerlifting page and heart guides explain.
Maximal lifts and a held breath push hardest on a hernia, so leave them out until it's repaired, as our hernia guide explains. The NHS says to get help from NHS 111 if a hernia becomes painful or you feel or are sick.
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Our pregnancy guide: carry on lifting if you already do, perhaps lighter, and breathe out on the effort. Leave out maximal lifts and strongman events, and talk to your midwife or GP; our pelvic floor guide covers leaking with lifting.
Strongman Corporation allows competitors from 12 with a parent's or guardian's registration. Train with a qualified coach, technique before load, and no maximal attempts until technique is consistent (our suggestion).
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Repeat injuries were common in the survey. Rehabilitate first with our pain guides, and add implements last.
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Both raise the risk of muscle breakdown with hard, unaccustomed exercise. Build up over weeks, avoid all-out medleys in the heat, and see our rhabdomyolysis and sickle cell guides.
A sudden pop with pain, bruising or a change in the shape of the biceps needs help from NHS 111 the same day: a torn distal biceps tendon is best repaired within 2 to 3 weeks, as our distal biceps guide explains.
Call 999 or go to A&E if you heard a crack, the injured part has changed shape or points at an odd angle, it's numb or tingling, or the skin around it has changed colour or is cold.
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Call 999 or go to A&E for back pain with pain, tingling, weakness or numbness in both legs, loss of feeling around your genitals or anus, or changes in your bladder or bowels.
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Go to A&E if you can't move your arm, or your shoulder looks out of place or has changed shape. Don't drive yourself.
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Call 999 for sudden chest pain or pressure that doesn't go away, pain spreading to the arms, neck, jaw, stomach or back, or chest pain with sweating, feeling sick, light-headedness or breathlessness.
These can be signs of rhabdomyolysis. Get medical help the same day: call NHS 111, or go to A&E if you feel very unwell. Call 999 for sudden, severe pain in a muscle that's very swollen and tight. Our rhabdomyolysis guide explains more.
Get help from NHS 111 if you have a hernia and pain in or around it, a bloated tummy, you're being sick, or you can't poo.
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Injuries are common, 82% of surveyed athletes in a year, and implements carry more risk per hour than barbells, but strongman's rate is low next to common team sports, and most injuries are strains that heal. How you build up matters most.
In the only trial, strongman and traditional training gave similar gains over 7 weeks, each with small advantages of its own. Use both.
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Strongman Corporation runs women's classes from 57 kg and men's from 80 kg, plus novice, teen and masters classes. You can enter at the weight you are.
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In the stone lift a neutral back is impossible because of the stone's shape. What protects you is the load and the practice: learn on light stones and a stone trainer, and build up (our reading).
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We found no evidence for the special benefits coaches claim for sandbag training. Sandbags are a useful, cheap implement, not a magic one.
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No study shows it. They're competition kit, and some series limit them.
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Most strongman athletes taper for about a week, cutting training volume by about 45% and stopping 3 to 4 days before competing.
Build a base in an ordinary gym first: a heavy hinge like the trap bar deadlift, a squat, a press from the shoulders, and farmer's and suitcase carries, two or three times a week. Then add one implement at a time, ideally with a coach, starting with carries and moving on to the log or axle, stones on a trainer and the yoke. Our beginner workout does the first part.
Yes, for most of it. A trap bar, dumbbells or kettlebells, a sled and a barbell cover deadlifts, carries, pushes, drags and clean and presses; stones, logs and yokes need a strongman gym. Strength coaches use sleds, kettlebells, tyres, sandbags and farmer's handles more than any other implements.
Lifts for weight or reps (logs, axles, circus dumbbells and deadlifts), carries for time or distance (yokes, farmer's walks, frames and sandbags), loading races with stones, kegs and sandbags, pulls with sleds and vehicles, and tyre flips. Each competition announces its events, weights and distances in advance.
Injuries are common: 82% of strongman athletes in one survey had at least one in a year, mostly to the lower back, shoulders, biceps and knees. Per hour, implement training was about twice as risky as ordinary lifting, though strongman's injury rate is still low next to team sports like rugby. Learning each event light, with good technique, matters most.
Tyre flips and stones caused the most biceps injuries in a survey of competitors. Flip a tyre you can move with straight arms and leg drive, stop when you start curling it, and take care with a palm-forward grip on the axle. A sudden pop at the front of the elbow needs a same-day check.
They overlap: competitors train the squat and deadlift heavily, and squat strength tracked strongman performance closely. In the only trial, 7 weeks of strongman training gave similar gains to traditional lifting, each with small advantages of its own.
They depend on the organiser. In Strongman Corporation's 2026 rules, women compete at 57 kg (amateurs only), 64, 73, 82 and over 82 kg, and men at 80, 90, 105, 120 (amateurs only) and over 120 kg, with masters, teen and novice classes. UK organisers set their own classes.
Most strongman athletes taper for about a week, cutting training volume by about 45%, and stop training 3 to 4 days before competing. The deadlift, yoke and stones take longest to recover from.
Yes. Strongman Corporation runs women's classes from 57 kg and teen divisions from 12 to 19, and a parent or guardian must register anyone under 18. Young lifters should be coached, with technique ahead of load.
There's little research to say. A practical starting point from strength coaches is 2 to 4 rounds of 10 to 20 seconds with a weight that challenges you, building up from there; our beginner workout also uses suitcase carries of 20 to 30 metres.
Exercise education for people who play sport, not a personal prescription or a diagnosis, and clinical review of these pages is pending. Check with a GP or physiotherapist before hard training if you have a heart condition, chest pain, dizziness or an injury that isn't settling, and stop for sharp or increasing pain. Health disclaimer.
