What is Strongman/woman?
Strongman/woman training consists of both strength and conditioning in various events. A strongwoman competition consists of 5-7 events over 1-2 days. There are general rules on events that you will have a carry event, a deadlift event, an overhead event, maybe a stone event or two (if I’m lucky), and an event that normally stresses your conditioning such as a truck pull, medley or repeated giant tire flip. Most people watch World’s Strongest Man on TV, so I just say, you see when those big guys pull trucks or lift the atlas stones? I do that too! Just on a smaller scale.
Why I love it?
This is a unique sport, where your competitors all cheer each other on. Other women I have met for maybe 5 minutes are screaming at me to get one more rep, pull the truck faster, they even yell advice on how to complete an event. The people in the sport are incredible, and all are very open in helping newcomers, such as myself. I have only been competing in competitions since June 2012, so not even two years, and I’ve made a lot of great connections with other strong women. It’s not easy to come by. I’m one of few in Syracuse, NY that compete in strongwoman, so I mainly have to train with men, or I drive three hours or more to train with bigger lifting crews. The community is inspiring and everyone helps each other to get better.
The big reason why I also love the training is that anyone can do it. I am a 5’4 female that still looks like a soccer player(which is what I played for many many years). All the moves are fully functional, and you just start small. Get a little stronger each week, and soon enough, you’ll see how strong you can get. For anyone looking to get into the sport, search competitions and look up events online through the North American Strongman website. Reach out to other women in the sport. There are weight classes so you’ll be competing against other women close to your weight.
You don’t know how strong you are, until you start pushing yourself past your comfort zone.
Both Tracy and Strongwoman Training are brand new to Strong Figure! Let us know your questions and any ideas/topics you’d like Tracy to write about. Have YOU ever thought about training this way? Do you have any experience in this field? Let us know!
You are an inspiration Tracy !!!
Thanks Melanie!
Tracy it is so exciting that you will be contributing for Strong Figure. I have been a fan of strongman since I was in high school and finally strongwoman is starting to get some attention. I think it will be BIG in the not too distant future. And with role models like you proving women can be STRONG, lift heavy weights, and still look like a “soccer player” the sport will take off in no time. Great post! I can’t wait for the next one.
I so want to try this but more as a workout. It looks so fun! But I am not sure there are any strongWOman gyms or strongman gyms in my area.