Strongman looks intimidating from the outside — atlas stones, yokes, loaded frames, people carrying things that clearly weigh more than they do. It's more accessible than it looks. Strongman is just strength training with odd objects, and the entry point is lower than most beginners assume. Here's how to start.
The Strongman Events
Strongman is built around a rotating set of events rather than fixed lifts. They fall into a few categories: loading events (atlas stones, sandbags), carrying events (farmers walk, yoke, frame carry), overhead events (log press, axle press, Viking press), and pulling or pressing for distance or reps.
No two contests run the exact same events, which is part of the appeal — you train general strength that expresses itself in a dozen ways, not a single one-rep max. For a beginner, that variety also means you don't have to be good at everything on day one.
The Implements
Each event has its own implement, and getting hands on the real equipment is most of the learning curve. Atlas stones teach you to brace and extend through a round, awkward load. The yoke teaches you to walk under heavy weight without your structure folding. Farmers handles teach grip and posture under load. The log and axle teach you to press something that doesn't behave like a barbell.
You cannot learn these from a barbell alone. This is the single biggest barrier to starting strongman — most gyms simply don't own the implements. A gym set up for strongman will have stones across a weight range, yokes, log and axle, farmers handles, a loading frame, and sandbags, so you can actually practice the events you'll compete in.
How to Start Safely
Strongman has a reputation for being hard on the body. Trained correctly, it isn't — but the technique has to come before the load. The two non-negotiables for a beginner are bracing and position.
Every strongman event is, underneath, a test of whether you can keep a solid trunk while something awkward tries to break your position. Learn to brace, learn the setup for each implement, and start light enough that the technique holds. The athletes who get hurt in strongman are almost always the ones who loaded the implement before they owned the movement.
What a First Session Looks Like
A beginner's first strongman session is mostly teaching. You'll cover the setup and technique for two or three implements — often stones, farmers, and an overhead event — at loads that let you move well. You'll do short, heavy efforts with full rest, not long grinding sets.
Underneath the events, you still train the basics: the squat, deadlift, and overhead press build the strength the implements express. A good strongman program is maybe 60% standard barbell work and 40% event work, especially early on.
Strongman Training in Boulder
GYM N°5 in Gunbarrel is set up for strongman — atlas stones from 35 to 440 lb, yokes, log and axle, farmers handles, a loading frame, sandbags, a Viking press, and a 17-foot bag-toss lane on dedicated medley flooring with crash pads. The implements are there, set up, and ready to load.
Coaching covers beginners learning the events through competitors prepping for contests, in-person in Gunbarrel or online. If strongman has been on the list of things you'd try if you could find the equipment — this is the equipment.
Train at GYM N°5
Private strength training in Gunbarrel, Boulder. Powerlifting, Olympic weightlifting, strongman, physique, and athletic performance. 24/7 member access.