Strongman skills
18 skills, beginner to advanced. 18 of them you can film on a phone and get measured. No fake scores.
Skills by level
You can film18 of 18 skills
Beginner 5
- The DeadliftThe foundation of strongman — picking a heavy barbell off the floor. Every event in the sport is built on this same skill: brace a neutral spine and drive with your legs and hips, never your lower back.
- Farmer's WalkPick up a heavy weight in each hand and walk — the simplest and most fundamental strongman carry. It builds a crushing grip, a strong upper back, and a braced core, and it teaches you to stay tall and stable while moving under load.
- Overhead PressPressing a barbell from your shoulders to overhead — the strength base for every strongman overhead event (the log, axle, and circus dumbbell all build on this). It's a strict, powerful press that builds the shoulders, triceps, and a braced trunk.
- Sandbag CarryHugging a heavy sandbag to your chest and walking with it — your introduction to carrying an awkward, shifting load. Unlike the farmer's walk, the weight is unevenly distributed and tries to pull you forward, so it teaches you to brace hard and hold a strong posture.
- Sled Push & DragDriving a weighted sled across the floor — a brutal but joint-friendly way to build leg power and conditioning, and a great beginner strongman event. Because there's no lowering phase, it's gentle on the muscles while still torching your legs and lungs.
Intermediate 5
- The Yoke WalkWalking with a loaded yoke across your shoulders — often the heaviest thing you'll ever carry, sometimes well over your bodyweight. The whole skill is bracing your trunk like a steel beam and taking short, controlled steps while the load tries to sway and crush you.
- Log Clean & PressThe iconic strongman overhead lift — clean a thick log to your shoulders, then press it overhead. It's three skills in one: lap it, clean it to the rack, and press it.
- Atlas Stone LiftThe most iconic strongman event — hoisting a heavy concrete sphere from the ground onto a platform. The two keys keep you safe and strong: treat your arms as HOOKS (never curl the stone, which is how biceps get torn) and drive the whole thing with your hips.
- Tire FlipFlipping a giant tractor tire end over end — a full-body explosive event that's really a deadlift into a push. The mistake everyone makes is trying to lift it with their back; instead you get low, drive with your legs and hips into the tire, and use that momentum to flip it.
- Sandbag ShoulderingHoisting a heavy sandbag from the floor up onto your shoulder — an explosive, awkward lift that builds serious full-body power. Like the atlas stone, you lap it first, then use an aggressive hip drive to 'pop' it onto your shoulder.
Advanced 5
- Axle Clean & PressCleaning and pressing a thick, non-rotating axle bar overhead. Because the fat bar is so hard to grip, you can't clean it in one smooth motion like a barbell — instead you use a 'continental clean,' rolling the bar up your body in stages and popping it to the rack off your belly.
- Circus Dumbbell PressPressing a giant, thick-handled dumbbell overhead with ONE arm — a classic, crowd-pleasing strongman event. The challenge is balance: the oversized bell wants to roll out of your hand, so finding the 'sweet spot' in the rack and bracing your core is everything.
- Husafell CarryCarrying a Husafell stone — a large, flat, awkward stone (or a Husafell bag) hugged against your chest — for distance. Named after a famous Icelandic farm where lifting the stone was a test of manhood, it's a brutal anti-flexion carry: the load tries to bend you forward, and you fight to stay tall and keep walking.
- Stone Over BarLifting an atlas stone up and over a bar (set at a height) rather than onto a platform — a common contest event done for reps or time. The lift is the same as the atlas stone load, but because you have to get the stone HIGHER and tip it over a bar, the explosive hip drive matters even more.
- Frame CarryLike a farmer's walk, but you stand inside a single rigid frame and carry it by handles at your sides. Because it's one connected implement (often loaded very heavy), it can sway and rotate as a unit, so it demands an even tighter brace and more control than separate farmer's handles.
Insane 3
- Max DeadliftA true one-rep-max pull — in strongman, often on an 'elephant bar' that's 10 feet long and flexes under the load, making lockout brutal. At this level you're allowed straps, a suit, belts, and 'hitching' (grinding the bar up your thighs).
- Max Atlas StoneLoading the heaviest stone you can — competition stones reach 20+ inches and well over 130 kg. The technique is the same lap-and-hip-drive as the regular stone lift, but at maximal weight every detail matters, the biceps-tear risk is at its highest, and you must know how to bail safely if the stone wins.
- Max Log PressPutting the heaviest possible log overhead in a single rep — clean it, then jerk or push-press it to lockout. Presses are usually missed in the last few inches (it's a lockout/triceps battle), and the real danger is a miss coming down on you, so a reliable bail is essential.