My First Strongman Contest

My first strongman contest was a learning experience every step of the way. I guess you want, or at the very least need, your first time doing something to be educational as much as you want it (or need it, remember that word) to be rewarding. I thought I had done everything I could to prepare for what was to face me on that cool West by God Virginia morning, but I forgot to bring one thing…my A game.

I had studied the events and knew where my weaknesses laid and what my strengths were. I knew that the overhead press would be good and I tied for second, just like I knew the Atlas Stone could be disastrous and I failed to even lift it. I wound up coming in last place, by only a few points but still, LAST PLACE. Normally that would infuriate me and I’d write journal entries about how motivated I was to come back stronger and blah, blah, blah but in reality I took my picture with Phil Pfister (truly a large and silly man) and went to Ruby Tuesday and ate a little steak and some deviled eggs.

I battled within myself that night, all night. I was torn between feeling upset and even angry at myself for my placing, but I knew deep down inside that I had learned so much from just this one experience that there was no way it could be considered a failure. If anything, I felt like I has won it all because I knew that no one there was leaving with more growth or potential for growth than I was. I came in to the event with no training on any of the implements except the overhead press, and Phil told me that having no experience with the implements would be me downfall but to make sure I looked at every attempt and try to pick it apart and see how I could approach it. He proved to be not only motivation that day but also tried to coach everyone there during the day and gave feedback whenever he could.

My biggest failure that day came in the truck pull, which I truly thought I’d show off in, boy was I wrong. First off, I knew well the science behind the pull and how gravity works with you for such an event; I didn’t go into it blind at all. Despite my scientific understanding of the event, I just couldn’t get that Humvee across the National Guard Armory Floor.

Why?

Quite simple, I couldn’t manage the rope!

See what you don’t truly understand until you fail in front a mass of strangers is that the truck ‘pull’ is not too hard. You either can do it or you can’t, but what is truly difficult is maintaining that level of effort while managing the massive, swinging rope in front of you that will never fall how you like it. The truck pull is more cerebral than anything, because making the pulls is easy but metering your pulls to control the slack in the rope is almost like doing two events once. Long story short, I was basically pulling the truck from a stopped position multiple times while the rope went willy-nilly.

I wasn’t ready.

But it goes deeper than that, much deeper. I was not ready for this competition from a training standpoint because I didn’t exhaust all my avenues for finding implements with which to train. I could have done more and didn’t, honestly due to lack of experience. Where I truly failed myself was in the lack of mental preparation and how I approached each event. The first event was the hold and I think the weight was 175 in each hand, I went first and the venue was dead silent. Just me standing there looking right in the ugly mug of Phil Pfister who legitimately was cheering me on. I held on for just under a minute, thought I did good and sat down. Then one by one almost everyone beat my time and I realized that those guys weren’t all stronger than me, they were just more focused and hungrier than I was. One guy’s body was shaking to pieces, like he was having a seizure and he stayed upright and held those weights and won first place. That guy wound up winning, sorry I lost his name, and each event he pushed himself to the wall-and I didn’t.  I realized that I was, to quote John Anderson, “in deep water.” I wasn’t out-muscled by all these guys, but clearly I was outclassed by some of them. 

They came to win and I came to show up, plain and simple.

Since then I haven’t done a traditional strongman contest but I am gearing up for at least 2 this summer. I think my lifts aren’t where I want them to be, but my mental game is much better now. I’ve learned to be more efficient with my movements and how to recruit the correct muscle groups for each lift. Do I think I have what it takes to win? Fuck yes. If I start losing events at my next contest then either I got hurt or there are some grade A bad ass motherfuckers there and they deserve to beat me. I’m not a bully now, but my ‘take no prisoners’ mentality has been molded by seeing the error of my ways and really, truly paying attention to what it takes to win and making the decision to do just that.

I am now acutely aware that the difference between winning at strongman is just the same as winning at life, it’s all about your mental game and how you approach it. The muscles just go along for the ride.

WV Strongman and Promoter Dan Carraway...kinda strong!

My hope is that each and everyone one of you can learn from my errors and get on the podium at your next contest.

But not first place…because that's MINE!

Shout out to one of West Virginia’s finest Mr. Dan Carraway, who hosted my fateful first contest and by all accounts is a wonderful promoter and dedicated family man, we salute you sir!

And of course a big thank you to 2006 World’s Strongest Man Phil Pfister who acted as a coach, mentor and friend to a chubby guy from South Carolina one day and that is one debt I intend to pay forward every chance I get. Stay strong and work hard!

Look for a blog about Phil Pfister and another hero of mine, the incomparable Dan Severn coming soon!