Strongman Training for Beginners: How to Get Started

Strongman training is the most practical form of strength training that exists. You pick up heavy, awkward objects. You carry them. You press them overhead. You pull heavy things across a distance. Every movement has a direct real-world application, and the conditioning demands are unlike anything you will experience in a conventional gym.

The strongman community in Malaysia is growing. Local competitions are organised throughout the year in KL, Penang, and JB, and the barrier to entry is much lower than most people assume. You do not need to be 120kg of muscle. Lightweight and middleweight categories exist, and many successful Malaysian strongman competitors weigh between 75-90kg.

The Core Strongman Events

Deadlift Variations

Strongman uses multiple deadlift setups - conventional barbell, axle bar (thick grip), and sometimes car deadlift or frame deadlift. You need to be strong pulling from the floor. If you can deadlift 1.5 times your body weight for reps, you have a solid foundation.

Overhead Press

Pressing implements range from a standard barbell to a log, axle, circus dumbbell, or Viking press. The log press is the most common. It requires different technique than a barbell because the log sits across your forearms in a neutral grip position.

Carries

Farmer's walks (carrying heavy implements in each hand), yoke walks (a heavy frame across your shoulders), sandbag carries, and front carries. These test grip endurance, core stability, trunk strength, and cardiovascular fitness simultaneously.

Loading Events

Atlas stones, sandbag loading, keg loading - picking a heavy, often awkward object off the ground and placing it on a platform or over a bar. Atlas stones are the iconic strongman event and test total body strength with a significant technique component.

Pulling Events

Truck pulls, sled drags, and rope pulls. These test sustained maximal effort over a distance and are brutally demanding on the legs, core, and cardio system.

Getting Started Without Strongman Equipment

Most commercial gyms in Malaysia do not have logs, atlas stones, or yoke frames. But you can build the foundational strength for strongman using standard gym equipment.

Gym-Based Strongman Preparation

Deadlift: Build to at least 1.5-2x body weight. Use conventional and sumo variations. Also practise deficit deadlifts and rack pulls for different pulling angles.

Overhead press: Build strict press and push press strength. A strict press of 70 percent of body weight is a solid starting point. If you weigh 80kg, aim to strict press 56kg.

Farmer's walk: Use heavy dumbbells or trap bar. Walk 30-40 metres with the heaviest load you can manage. This is available in any gym.

Sandbag work: Buy a sandbag from Shopee or Lazada for RM50-100. Fill it with sand to 30-50kg. Practice ground-to-shoulder lifts, carries, and loading over a bar or fence.

Front squat: More specific to strongman than back squats because many events require an upright torso under load (yoke walks, front carries, stone loading).

Barbell row: Build heavy rowing strength for pulling events.

A Beginner Strongman Gym Programme (No Implements Needed)

Day 1 - Pressing

• Strict overhead press: 5 x 3
• Push press: 3 x 5
• Incline dumbbell press: 3 x 10
• Dumbbell lateral raise: 3 x 15
• Tricep dips: 3 x 10

Day 2 - Deadlift and Carry

• Conventional deadlift: 5 x 3
• Deficit deadlift: 3 x 5
• Farmer's walk (heavy dumbbells): 4 x 30 metres
• Front carry (hold plate or sandbag at chest): 3 x 30 metres
• Ab wheel: 3 x 10

Day 3 - Squat and Accessory

• Front squat: 4 x 5
• Back squat: 3 x 8
• Walking lunge: 3 x 12 per leg
• Leg press: 3 x 15
• Calf raises: 4 x 15

Day 4 - Upper Body and Conditioning

• Barbell row: 5 x 5
• Weighted pull-up: 4 x 6
• Log press or Viking press (if available): 4 x 5
• Face pull: 3 x 15
• Sled push or prowler (if available): 6 x 20 metres

Train four days per week with at least one day between sessions. Rest days are for recovery - light walking, stretching, and eating enough food to support the training demand.

Where to Train Strongman in Malaysia

Several gyms cater to strongman training or have strongman implements:

• Iron Fitness (Cheras, KL) - Has atlas stones, farmer's handles, and various strongman implements
• Gym Quest (Puchong, Selangor) - Strongman-friendly with outdoor training space
• Various CrossFit boxes - Many have yokes, sleds, and sandbags

If none of these are near you, the sandbag approach works surprisingly well for home or outdoor training. A heavy sandbag, a field, and creativity go a long way.

Strongman Competition in Malaysia

Local strongman competitions are typically organised by the Malaysian Strongman Association or independent promoters. Entry fees range from RM100-200.

Weight classes commonly used:

• Under 75kg
• Under 90kg
• Under 105kg
• Over 105kg
• Women's open

Events at a typical local competition might include: deadlift for reps, log press for reps, farmer's walk for time, atlas stone loading, and a medley event.

Your first competition goal should not be winning - it should be completing all events without zeroing (failing to complete an event). Zero the log press because you cannot clean it? That is a training goal for the next competition. But finishing all events, even with the lightest weights, teaches you about pacing, adrenaline management, and competition-specific demands that training alone cannot replicate.

Nutrition for Strongman Training

Strongman training is calorically expensive. The combination of heavy lifting and carrying events burns significantly more calories than standard gym training. A 90-minute strongman session can burn 800-1,200 calories.

Caloric Needs

Most aspiring strongman athletes need to eat in a surplus. Maintenance calories plus 300-500 calories is appropriate for those trying to gain strength while slowly adding body weight.

For a 80kg male training four days per week: approximately 3,000-3,500 calories daily.

Protein

2.0-2.4g per kilogram of body weight. At 80kg, that is 160-192g daily.

Carbohydrates

Strongman training depletes glycogen rapidly. Carb intake should be high - 4-6g per kilogram. At 80kg, that is 320-480g of carbs per day. Rice, noodles, bread, sweet potatoes - eat them generously.

Malaysian Meal Plan for a Strongman in Training

Breakfast: 4 eggs, 2 roti canai, dhal (50g protein, 80g carbs) Mid-morning: Protein shake, banana, handful of nuts (35g protein, 40g carbs) Lunch: Double chicken rice with extra vegetables (50g protein, 100g carbs) Pre-workout: Peanut butter toast, banana (15g protein, 50g carbs) Post-workout: Protein shake, white rice (40g protein, 60g carbs) Dinner: Grilled fish, rice, vegetables, dhal (45g protein, 70g carbs)

Total: approximately 235g protein, 400g carbs, 3,200 calories

The Strongman Mindset

Strongman is different from powerlifting or bodybuilding in one critical way: every event has a time component. You are not just lifting heavy - you are lifting heavy as fast as possible, or carrying heavy as far as possible within a time limit.

This means conditioning matters. Pure strength without endurance gets you through individual reps but not through a full event. Your training must include elements of sustained effort - longer sets, minimal rest, and exercises that challenge your cardiovascular system alongside your muscles.

The farmer's walk is the perfect example. A 100kg per hand farmer's walk for 20 metres tests your grip and traps. A 100kg per hand farmer's walk for 60 metres tests your grip, traps, lungs, heart, and mental fortitude.

Start with standard strength training, add carries and conditioning, then seek out strongman implements as you progress. The transition from gym lifter to strongman competitor is more accessible than most people think. You just have to be willing to train with uncomfortable, awkward objects and push through the kind of full-body fatigue that machines and barbells alone do not create.