It doesn’t get much better than when The Kurtlocker joins the podcast. He is a Veteran, DIY enthusiast, and proud father. Kurt also has one of the dopest garage gyms in Ohio and competes as a professional strongman. In this chat, we do a deep dive into the world of Strongman
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(0:17) How long have you been doing Strongman, and what did your training history look like before that?
2015 is when he started powerlifting with the Starting Strength method. That slowly transformed into the sport of Strongman.
His first competition was about five years ago, in 2017, and he only trained about three months before that competition. Before that, he was active military, where he did a lot of running, swimming, push-ups, and pull-ups, as you would expect in the military. He was very “conditioned” and weighed around 160 lbs.
The running he does these days is minimal. He’ll do just enough to keep his VO2 max at an acceptable level. There isn’t too much “strongman advantage” you’ll get when running long distances.
By the way, he’s up to about 220 pounds right now, which aligns with his weight class for the next competition.
(7:36) Tell us why more people should do Strongman.
The strongman community is one of the “strongest” communities you could be a part of in a number of ways. It’s very supportive and welcoming. Others continuously push each other to be their best and they aren’t afraid to help each other out. Since it’s a relatively small group, it’s really easy to get to know others. In addition, it’s just fun and gratifying.
Kurt recommends finding one near to get a feel for it for anyone interested.
He also believes that the sport of strongman is the ultimate sport for “functional fitness.” It carries over well to daily life tasks because it teaches you how to use leverage. For example, Kurt says he is very good at moving with his experience of trying to get cumbersome things into tight windows.
Kurt would love to see the sport grow.
(13:18) What does a typical strongman look like?
They come in all shapes in sizes with a 181, 220, 241, 280, and then super heavyweight. We didn’t double-check these numbers and the definition of each class does sometimes vary, but they come in different shapes and sizes for both males and females.
(16:32) What does the typical show look like?
There are typically five events, with 40% being an overhead one. There is also usually some deadlift, carry, and stones/loading. Mystery events may occur as well.
Each event during the meet typically does not take too much time, and many events are won in a second or less. Therefore, it’s crucial that you don’t mess up the details, and it can be labeled as a “perfectionist sport. The total meet time varies but isn’t usually short. It seems like it does take up a majority of the day.
Kurt does say he’s typically more taxed after a strongman training session than the entire meet.
(23:59) You’ve started training others. How’s that going?
Kurt is doing remote programming for a few people doing the Garage Gym Competition. Plus, he trains a lot of people that he works with.
It has been gratifying but also very challenging. A lot of people get very defensive about their training history. It’s challenging to help people break bad habits. Also, remote programming takes quite a bit of time with technical limitations, and it’s tough to see the rate of perceived exertion when not there in person. Some assumptions need to be made.
Epiphany moments are extremely rewarding to witness for Kurt.
(27:34) What should they be looking for those looking to find a program or coach?
Starting Strongman is a fantastic resource for anyone looking to begin. Or, some power-building program could benefit where you are doing core/primary lifts for sets of 5. Then extra work will be a bit higher reps with 3×10.
(29:35) Lastly, do you have any new equipment or projects that you’d love to talk about regarding your home gym?
A Squatmax MD will appear, along with a visit from Brian Hennessy. Then, he will grab the new Straydog bench and has some additional DIY projects.
That is in addition to him attempting a “Rogue free” home gym.
By the way, Kurt is currently getting his master’s degree in human performance, focusing on strength and conditioning. There’s no doubt he will continue to educate us with his impressive knowledge within this field.
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