News

NAS Nationals Archives Up!

This past weekend marked the 2015 NAS Nationals, the biggest amateur strongman show of the year and it didn't disappoint. Huge congrats to Ethan Farkas, Heavyweight, and Bryan Barrett, Middleweight, for winning their pro cards this past weekend! In case you haven't already, be sure to check out our archives of the entire event to catch up on the whole weekend and relive the action!

Oct 6, 2015

Throwback Thursday: Strongman Classics

With the NAS Nationals coming up this weekend (LIVE on FloElite HERE), here's a throwback to a few of our favorite examples of the NAS events in other strongman shows: Svend Karlsen Seals The Title On The Conan Carry: Marius Pudzianowski Crushes the Giant Farmers Walk: The Cyr Dumbbell Returns To The Arnold Classic Be sure to check out our preview of the NAS Nationals events and watch our LIVE coverage of the events this weekend!

Sep 30, 2015

NAS Nationals Features Classic Mix Of Events

NAS Nationals are coming up this weekend, and the events are looking pretty sweet. It's a classic mix of dynamic and static events, perhaps a little on the light side, but overall very well balanced. Let's take a look: Day 1, Event 1 - Log Clean & Press for reps Competitors will have 60 seconds to get as many clean & press with the log as possible. The log will start from the floor each time and a judge will be giving the down signal. The weights are as follows: Ligthweight Women - 135 Middleweight Women - 155 Lightweight Men - 250 Middleweight Men - 275 Heavyweight Men - 300 It's rare when we can look at an event with a 300# clean and press and call it cardio, but that's exactly what this is. With modern middleweight men getting stronger and stronger and modern heavyweights easily pushing 400+ this is going to be a factor of who's got the endurance and effeciency across 60 seconds. Day 1, Event 2 - Conan's Carry using Yoke Walk Competitors will carry the yoke 60 feet as quickly as possible. They'll have a maximum of 60 seconds and can drop the implement as many times as they'd like. Here are the respective weights: Lightweight women - 300 Middleweight women - 350 Lightweight men - 550 Middleweight men - 600 Heavyweigt men - 650 The Conan Carry, AKA the Wheel of Pain, is rough. That Zercher position makes the abs and lower back work a lot harder than usual and as far as dynamic events go, this can have a huge effect on the arms and shoulders as well. With the right technique, this event will go by very quickly, so only the least prepared competitors will hit the 60 second cap. Day 1, Event 3 - Farmers Competitors will carry the implements 60 feet as quickly as possibly. They'll have a maximum of 60 seconds and can only drop the implements once. The weights are: Lightweight women - 160 Middleweight women - 190 Lightweight men - 270 Middleweight men - 310 Heavyweigt men - 350 Ah, the farmers walk. A classic dynamic event, a real litmus test of overall strength, and in this case a sprint. The weights are manageable and will be easily handled by the strongest competitors. The key here will be getting a good grip from the beginning and avoiding any drops through the movement. Day 2, Event 1 - Push Pull Medley Competitors will have 60 seconds to accrue as many reps as possible of 1 one-arm giant dumbbell press + 1 one-arm giant dumbbell deadlift. They'll have to control the weights on the way down on both movements, and 1 rep is counted when both movements are completed (push + pull). Here are the weights: Lightweight women - 70-130 Middleweight women - 90-145 Lightweight men - 130-200 Middleweight men - 160-250 Heavyweigt men - 200-300 This is cool combo event, one that calls back to old timey strongman events with the giant dumbbell press and deadlift. The heavyweight men are in for a hell of a ride with the heavier dumbbells as a 300lb one-arm overhead press is going to be very gnarly. This is going to be a great event to start Day 2 and a really great event to watch, Day 2, Event 2 - Sandbag Carry and Load Medley Competitors will have 75 seconds to load 4 sandbags as quickly as possible. Sandbags will be about 60 feet away from the platforms which will be about 38" high. Here are the weights: Lightweight women - 100, 100, 120, 120 Middleweight women - 120, 120, 140, 140 Lightweight men - 180, 180, 220, 220 Middleweight men - 220, 220, 260, 260 Heavyweigt men - 260, 260, 300, 300 Sandbags are pretty popular and are getting more accessible thanks to better and better construction these days and for good reason. They are a safer implement to carry dynamically when compared to kegs or atlas stones, and they're arguably more difficult to carry because of shape and distribution of weights. I would consider these weights very light so expect to see some real quick movement. The competitors will want to be patient setting up because the last thing they want is to pick up the weight only to have it sit in an inefficient spot and slip while they're running.  Looking for more in depth review on the technique involved here? Check out these rad training videos with Julien Pineau: The Sandbag Clean The Monster Dumbbell Press The Log Press

Sep 29, 2015