Use strongman training techniques to boost performance and add variety.

Have you ever been curious about the strongman style of training? Maybe it has interested you but you are not sure where to start. Or perhaps you have tried to learn more and found there is a shortage of accessible information for non-competitors.

As a word-of-mouth sport, strongman knowledge has long been passed on only through veteran coaches and athletes. Strongman Training for Strength and Performance aims to switch things up by providing quality guidance on how to use strongman exercises to experience the benefits of this unique approach to training.

With guidance from experienced coaches, you can learn how to incorporate strongman exercises and their many alternatives into your current training. Sample eight-week training programs are provided, allowing you to choose from one of four common goals: lose body fat, gain muscle, increase strength, or improve athletic performance. Each program offers three levels based on your training background:

• Level 1: Perfect for anyone with resistance training experience. You know your way around a standard gym or weight room but have not been training regularly—or you just recently resumed training.
• Level 2: Regular resistance training is already part of your routine, and you are looking to incorporate strongman training into your routine or to potentially compete for fun!
• Level 3: A good fit for athletes. You have extensive experience with resistance training and want to reach peak performance for your sport or for strongman competitions.

Each of the 15 main exercises and 45 alternative exercises is accompanied by photos and written descriptions. There are common errors and corrections for each exercise as well as progressions, regressions, and alternative equipment options.

You don’t need to become a strongman competitor to reap the benefits of this training approach. Learn more about the sport, the exercises used, and how to add variety to your training with Strongman Training for Strength and Performance.

Earn continuing education credits/units! A continuing education exam that uses this book is also available. It may be purchased separately or as part of a package that includes both the book and exam.

Audience

Individuals looking to incorporate strongman exercises into their training to boost performance or add variety.

Part I. What Is Strongman?

Chapter 1. Strongman Explained

Part II. Getting Started

Chapter 2. Preparing for Strongman Training

Chapter 3. Assessing Where You Start and Setting Goals

Part III. Common Movements

Chapter 4. Carries and Propulsion Movements

Chapter 5. Overhead Presses

Chapter 6. Loads and Pulls 

Part IV. Training Programs

Chapter 7. Level 1 Training Programs

Chapter 8. Level 2 Training Programs

Chapter 9. Level 3 Training Programs

Chapter 10. Integrating Strongman Training Into an Existing Program

Chris Slater, MEd, CSCS, is a teacher at Foley High School in Alabama as well as a wrestling coach and flag football coach. He has been teaching and coaching for over 15 years. Slater took a break from teaching in the high school setting to be a gym owner, personal trainer, and strength coach at Alabama Strength before returning to high school coaching and teaching. He has also been an independent professional trainer at Results Gym in Gulf Shores, Alabama, and at Fairhope Fitness in Fairhope, Alabama. In addition to his dual roles coaching and teaching, Slater was the Alabama state chair for Strongman Corporation and now is the Alabama cochair for United States Strongman. Slater has also served as chair of the NSCA Strongman Special Interest Group.

Slater was a collegiate wrestler, competing for four seasons at Eastern Michigan University. Since his time competing on the mat, he has been heavily involved in strength training and is still active in the sport of strongman with competing and with promoting events.

Heidi Campo, MS, CSCS,*D, NSCA-CPT*D, is a strength and conditioning professional, researcher, and former gym owner with nearly two decades of experience in the private sector. She has worked as a coach since 2005 and previously owned a strength-focused gym in Salt Lake City, Utah, with a particular emphasis on strongman and other strength sports.

Campo’s passion for strongman deepened in 2015 when she spent a winter in Iceland training at Jakaból Gym, known as the Nest of Giants, under four-time World’s Strongest Man Magnús Ver Magnússon. In 2020, she founded the NSCA Strongman Special Interest Group and has remained actively involved in its development. As the former Utah chair for Strongman Corporation, Campo developed a deep appreciation for how strongman training can positively shape individuals, teams, and local communities through shared challenge, discipline, and purpose.

Alongside her professional work, Campo is committed to the intentional practice of her Christian faith and enjoys spending time with her husband, Daniel, and their corgi-pitbull mix, Simba. She values meaningful conversation, quiet time in nature, good food, great music, and philosophy.